Life is a Story - Make Yours a Bestseller
While now is not the time, eventually our lives will calm to a point that I can literally pen that 'best seller!' Well, I can dream, right?!
I have been a lover of the water my entire life. My Dad was stationed in Biloxi, MS and we lived in neighboring Gulfport - a block from the freeway that separated the city from the sandy beaches of the Gulf coast. Because of the climate there, we walked to the beach nearly every day. While I had learned to water ski on a lake in VA at a very young age, I had the opportunity to learn to sail while we were in Gulfport as a teen. I knew then that I had to live on a body of water - wherever I landed as an adult.
My best friend in high school (when we were living in Hickory, NC - retired USAF) lived on Lake Hickory. Our neighborhood was a 'lake' community but, our home wasn't right on the water. So, I practically lived at my BFF's house. We skied, fished and swam every possible day we could until we both left for college.
I later lived on the lake in Hickory after college until I moved to Charlotte in 1985 to continue my career as a nurse and start a new life here in 'the big city!' I lived 'near' the lake but, only spent a few weekends a year boating and water skiing on Lakes Norman and Wylie.
From 1990, when I moved from the lake forward, I vowed, once again, I WOULD wind up back on the lake again. In 2016, I finally started an active search for the perfect home on the lake. Who knew it would take me FOUR YEARS to find it?! I believe that the pandemic is what landed us here too. Firstly, I had time to search deeper for my own family as we had a month of being 'non-essential workers' here in NC. Secondly, the seller likely felt the pressure of the unknown - "What follows the pandemic? Who knows?" So, she decided to SELL.
At the same time, we decided to change our search parameters and VOILA! Our new home popped up in our search. My hubby, being a tad bit resistant to change, was not sold on it initially. [Let me clarify that 'tad bit' is a whopper of an exaggeration!] We had a perfectly perfect home in the city that we built specifically for us, which we both loved. While we were not going to sell that house, he really didn't want to spend weekends or summers away from his 'comforts of home' or be responsible for two furnished homes.
I eventually had my sister- and brother-in-law over to take a tour of the (lake) house with us. I still, to this day, believe that my brother-in-law (who my husband loves) saying, "I like this house better than the one you're in!" did it for Ray. That and, "You can make this house your own but, you can't get these views anywhere else in Charlotte!"
We bought the house and while we were under Contract, I had plans drawn, contractors enlisted and were ready to make this home very similar to our SouthPark home so that Ray would love his lake home as much as me. We got almost all of the contractor work done in the first month after purchasing the home and as we spent more time here, we discovered that the sunsets were simply mesmerizing!
Fast forward to moving day #1 (we broke down the moving days), we had a spectacular sunset and Ray proclaimed, "We're selling the other house!" We had contemplated Airbnb'ing it so, we had photos and video ready to go. We listed it and the rest is history!
I have committed to spending an hour every night, watching the sunset, (whether we have a sunset or not!) with the rare exceptions (out of town buyers). That time is for disconnecting and recharging and we have never been happier. The sunsets are exactly what my brother-in-law alluded to when he said, "You can make this house your own but, you can't get these views anywhere else in Charlotte!"
With the help and direction of our Creator, our story has become our own bestseller. For some, it's the mountains, for others, it's the desert. For us, we are living out our own dreams of living by the water. As Dorie Dillard Austin TX mentioned in her post this week, timing matters. Life is a Story - Make Yours a Bestseller.
#PatriciasAmazingChallenge
© Debe Maxwell | The Maxwell House Group | RE/MAX Executive | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com | Life is a Story - Make Yours a Bestseller
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