I have been known to notice small details about a person which gives me better understanding. Those insights into others can make me more compassionate and understanding providing one of my character flaws isn't rearing it's ugly head.
Being in sales challenges me to keep my character flaws in check and to be kind and understanding. All those little one-liners often prove to be true, not the least of which is, "you get more with honey than vinegar." Those one-liners are often homespun from grandmas and aunts working in kitchen in eras gone by but still hold true today. A kitchen is often the ‘hub' of the home, the operational area of the woman who keeps things humming around the homestead. It still is true in homes today, in different ways.
Groceries are sorted and prepared in the kitchen. Breakfast cereals and milk is poured in the kitchen. Family meals are prepared in the kitchen. Company seems to congregate in the kitchen. Holiday meals especially make the kitchen more a part of the family's fabric. The family calendars often hang in the kitchen. Telephones are in the kitchen. Fingers get cleaned, band-aids applied and kissed in the kitchen. Moms watch the kids in the backyard from the kitchen window. Parents have their morning coffee in the quiet of the early morning in the kitchen. In many homes, it is the nerve center of the family's existence.
Last weekend I held an open house for a great couple who listed their home with me, of all people. It's such a privilege to be a part of this process in their life. We were one of the fortunate teams as we received an offer in the first week the listing was on the market. Without going into all the details, I was moved that the most important thing to the woman was keeping the curtains in the kids' room and those in the kitchen. She thought she could replace them but she just really likes these. I think it's because it's a part of this house. It's a part of a house she fell in love and has nurtured and cared for it for the past four years alongside her husband.
Of all the things we could want, of all that could be important, to her it is the curtains.
As I walked around their home, I noticed something that tugged at my sentimental heartstrings. Something that I once moved away from and left behind in a house. It's often part of a growing family. A measurement of growth, a marker of personal history for the children in the home.
It was the door way markings of height by date.
"Linda02/05" (not her real name)
The marking was followed upward by a series of other names and dates for three children. They are children of a Navy Chief who was blessed to have seen all three of his children born, not a claim a lot of service personnel can make. They are also children of a loving and sturdy wife who has moved a number of times and reared children and clearly taken care of their homes.
They thought they would stay in this house and they treated it as such. They cared for it. They improved it. They loved it.
Now the Navy has changed their call to duty. So they will find another home on the opposite shore of this great country and begin the markings again on another kitchen doorway because children keep growing, parents keep loving and those who serve, keep serving.
Being in this business is a privilege. I hope to never forget that and why I pledge to always "See Real Estate Through Your Eyes." Seeing through my customers eyes will always give me more understanding than trying to get my needs met or meet my personal goals.
kjlange
Copyright 2007 Tall Cedar Publishing
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