Pepaw and the $3.50 mortgage payment

Our small town of Front Royal was dominated by a rayon plant that was one of the world's largest producers of Rayon. Pepaw, known to his contemporaries and colleagues as Frank Nesbitt, was a hard-working Irish Catholic who spent forty years at a viscose factory making rayon. Pepaw was my grandfather. Legend tells me that I named my grandfather Pepaw and my grandmother Memaw. Because I was the oldest grandchild, most of my cousins and all of my sisters and brother called him Pepaw as well.

Pepaw was well known in our small community and well respected for a number or reasons I won't go into here. But I will say that he had the booming voice of a born-leader and I'm very fortunate to have known him.  The funny thing about kids is that you never know what they are listening to or how much they understand.  I always remembered him talking about the following conversation he had with his bank, though I didn't much understand the subject until I became an adult.

Pepaw got a call from the bank one day. The bank said, "Frank, you've only got $500 on your mortgage."

Pepaw said, "Yes. What's your point?"

These were the days when the banker who loaned you your mortgage knew you personally. My grandfather probably coached the banker's kid in Little League Baseball.  The banker said, "We know what's in your accounts Frank. Why don't you just pay this thing off?"

Pepaw growled a little as he recalled struggle. "There was a time when my wife had to cut hair in the basement and the family had to cut corners. There was a time when I had to work extra shifts to make sure that we made that $3.50 payment on time. When I asked about paying off that loan I learned that most of that payment was interest---very little was principal. Some times I had to turn in pop bottles just to get the extra money I needed to make my payment on time.

"But now, now the payment is mostly principal with very little interest and you want me to pay it off." He paused and said with a bit more calm, "No, I'll pay my $3.50 each month and I'll pay it until the mortgage is done. But I won't pay any extra and I won't pay early. I stuck by the deal then, and you'll stick to it now."

That's my story of Pepaw and the $3.50 mortgage.

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About the Author --- Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo 1 Alexandria / Will Nesbitt Realty LLC. Will is a realtor who specializes in condos, townhouses and single family real estate in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Crystal City, and Kingstowne. Will resides in Belle Haven Estates just outside Alexandria VA in Fairfax County.