By and By

When I was little I used to visit with my Nana.  I loved spending time with her and miss her tremendously.  I am reminded of her after all these years from her cute little saying 'by and by'. 

When my mom would drop us off at Nana's house early in the morning we would instantly ask "Nana can we go downtown?" and she would always say "We'll go downtown by and by".  I remember asking my sister when 'by and by' was on the clock since it was so open-ended!  Neither of us ever knew but we never worried because she always delivered and we'd eventually all walk downtown.  The best time of the day!

She lived in a quaint town with a center that had a general store.  Nothing special just an ordinary general store - a much, much smaller version of your typical CVS and Walgreens.  The treat when we went to visit Nana was to go downtown to this store where she would buy us a little something.  My little something was always crayons.  She would always ask me 'Are you sure you want crayons?  You already have crayons".  I loved the look and smell of brand new crayons.  Once we left the general store I would walk every rock or brick wall along the way and hold on to her hand so tightly. 

The real estate and mortgage business is similar to me.  Whether I'm originating or processing a mortgage or selling a home I get pretty regular questions asked of me.  I wish I could just say "We'll close your loan by and by" or "The bank will approve your short sale by and by".  My answer isn't vague its very matter of fact so there are no surprises at all.  I hold my clients hands tightly thru the process and make sure they're safe and sound when we are finished.  I know my clients really appreciate this. I also know that by the end of our working relationship if I did answer any of their questions with 'by and by' and they knew the background of this statement - they would be just as comfortable and at peace as I was with my Nana.  Mutual trust ... isn't that what its all about?

I think my Nana would be proud of me.  The thought of it makes me want to go buy some crayons .... I"ll go downtown by and by to get them!