I love my home.
It's cozy.
Warm in the winter.
Cool in the summer.
It's in an old Memphis neighborhood.
Satiated with crime, racism, poverty, illiteracy, and blight.
Somehow or other I've been spared the horror.
But not the awareness of it.
Many of the homes around me are boarded up.
Many abandoned.
Some burned, looted and trashed.
Some with vagrants.
Bank owned and foreclosed.
Here's a picture of my backyard in the winter.
You can see how peaceful it is.
It's kind of an escape from the reality of the street that's only a couple of hundred yards to the west.
Gang violence, drugs, prostitution, robbery, burglary, auto thefts, home invasions, mental illness, hunger, domestic assault and murder, poor schools, bad cops and politicians, high taxes.
It's all there.
Just on the other side of the fence.
Hard to believe, isn't it ?
Even tougher to believe that the peace of
the photo above could be shattered.
But it is.
My home was built in 1952.
Harry Truman was the president.
My father was selling real estate.
But here's the reality of the neighborhood in 2013.
Some sleep in the churches with their children.
Some in their cars.
Some on the street.
Some in the parks.
Many foreclosed.
Some use their resources for
drugs, gambling, whiskey and wine.
Not for housing.
But I have a home.
I see children walking from school
and wonder if they have homes.
Or if they linger in the streets
because they're afraid to go back
to what they call home.
I grew up in Memphis.
& feel like I can't change anything sometimes.
So I watch, listen and hope that my neighborhood
will be a good one again one day.
I think it's another reason why I keep my real estate license active.
Not to sell homes, but to help those around me who want to save the homes they live in from unscrupulous criminals who work in this profession.
With poverty comes hunger, desperation and illiteracy.
Many poor Americans work hard and lose everything because they don't understand the home buying process.
There are still lots of predatory real estate agents and lenders out there waiting to be taken down by the good guys.
When you close the door and find yourself
inside the comfort of your home tonight be thankful.
And be one of the good guys and gals.
Someone needs you.
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