Everything, not just real estate is all about relationships, friends, family, clients, it all revolves around the relationships we have with each other. Depending on that relationship is how we view each other, how we empathize with a client and how we might grieve and mourn for a friend or family member.
I woke this morning with trepidation, knowing it would have been my mother's 83rd birthday today, but she died this summer suddenly. As I looked at my phone, part of my morning routine as I make tea or coffee to see if there is an emergency needing attention I see a message from a friend in our neighborhood that his wife has died early this morning surrounded by family and friends.
I feel united in their grief, because of my own, I understand how the grown children are feeling about their mother, one of the most gracious and helpful people I knew, always willing to help and be in the background, not needing center stage.
At the same time I miss my own mother, she lived in the UK and I was not able to be there before she passed away. I miss the phone calls when I get a new listing or get a house under agreement, or tell her something about her grand children. There seems an emptiness that no one can fill, and whilst I am happy that she was able to be in her own home till the end, I wonder how long it will be for the void that is there to be filled and whether it should.
I have a wonderful client right now who is XX, and over this past year have had several elderly clients who just amaze me with their resilience, their energy their willingness to tackle a move that is frightening and complex. As much as we make our living out of selling homes, I want these elderly people to stay in their homes as long as they can. But when it becomes time to move it requires me to have a little more time for them, to make sure they understand, and to help where needed, to go above and beyond to stop off and see how they are coping, to make sure that they are not being taken advantage of by workmen. It is all about the relationship I have with them and I want them to feel safe.
So today is an emotional day, but rather than mourning I am going to celebrate the lives of two wonderful women who are an example and inspiration to me as I think back over the years I have known them.
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