Fifty Years Later…….

Then: Summer of '63 at Sunnybrook Baptist Camp, Echo Lake, Pennsylvania
Now: July 26-28, 2013, West Chester, Pennsylvania

Then: We went by car…our parents' cars.
Now: We went by cars, planes, and trains.

Then: We numbered 30.
Now: We number 27, (as far as we know..three still missing.)

Then: We were teenagers.
Now: We are on Medicare.

Then: We became SSPPs that summer.
Now: We are STILL SSPPs of '63!

Then: We were in high school or about to enter college.
Now: We are working or retired.

Then: We were sons and daughters and sisters and brothers and grandsons and granddaughters.
Now: We are wives and husbands and exes and mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and grandmothers and grandfathers.

Then: We worked in the canteen, and kitchen, and laundry and Cabin 10. We drove and guarded the lives and washed dishes and pots and pans and ironed pillowcases and drove the trucks and went to the dump and made camp run!
Now: We are (or have been) teachers, ministers, nurses, and business people, just to name a few areas in which we've served.

Then: We were dating, flirting, sneaking into the boys' place, swimming, playing tennis, boating, playing the piano, singing, floating fireworks out on the lake, making friends, and trying to be accepted!
Now: We are golfing, bowling, boating, reading, playing the piano, cooking, creating, gardening, searching for seaglass, traveling, keeping our friends, and trying to accept others. We volunteer in assisted living facilities, churches, prisons, and rehab programs, just to name a few.

Then: We ate anything we wanted!
Now: We read labels, look at cholesterol and fiber count, try to eat more fruits and vegetables, and feel guilty when we eat what we want!

Then: We earned $10 a week.
Now: Those of us still working, we hope it's more than that! If we're retired, we hope it won't run out!

Then: We had Brownie Starflash cameras and had to call our parents "collect"!
Now: We have personal computers, cell phones, IPods, and IPads, and kids have no idea what calling "collect" even means!

Then: "Fifty years from now" seemed eons away.
Now: "Fifty years ago" seems like yesterday.

Then: We cried when we left.
Now: We cried when we left.

Showing my home, when it doesn't belong to me….

…is a new experience. When I moved in, I had no idea who owned the place.  I dealt with a management company, until the son of the owner called me about a year ago. He told me his father had died and he'd get back to me. After months, the family decided they needed to sell "my" precious townhouse. At the first meeting with their real estate guy, he told me I was paying too little rent. What? Did I make up the price? No!! So, the first meeting did not impress me. 

When he returned to actually check the place out, I asked what the price was, since I was interested in buying it. He gave me two figures (a hundred thousand dollars apart) with a question in his voice. He implied, "Which one sounded right?" I told him that was his job, not mine! At the same time, he commented on the water stains on the wooden kitchen floor, and told me to get a rug to cover it up. "No", I replied, "I'm not spending my money for you to sell someone else's home." We both laughed. He suggested maybe he could find one to put over the stains,  and I said, "Fine, as long as it doesn't smell smokey or have dog or cat hairs on it." No rug showed up.

Because I know what it takes to sell a home, and because I was trying to be "easy to work with", I took down every picture of my family and removed the nails in the walls. I put away little things and big things to make the area look uncluttered. I packed away all my sea glass that makes me happy, plus I like think about what I'll make next. I put away papers and things that I'd normally leave out to remind me to do…return a card shuffler that doesn't work, for one thing!

I put some stuff in the garage.  I neatly filled the closets in my guest room. When I know there's a showing, I hide stuff in my bureau drawers. Then this week, I did something I never had done before. I put dirty dishes in an empty box in the garage! Yuck! I'd been out of town for a couple of weeks, and had to get to work for my first day with students and all of a sudden, I realized the dishwasher was full of clean dishes and I had a few dirty ones on my counter. What to do now? Ah, I realized I had an empty box out there. 

I've cleaned the house and gone to sit in my car in the shade, and sweat anyway, and then found out the showing was canceled! I've come home to find the lights on, or a door unlocked, or a candy wrapper (my candy, but out for anyone) left on my kitchen counter. Who are these people? When I returned Sunday from being away for two weeks, I was irritated to find the door between my kitchen and garage unlocked. Hey, folks, this is my home for the time being and I'd like you to respect that fact!

Right now, I'm hiding out at a Starbucks. Oh, I can go home now but then I'll have to leave again in a couple of hours for another showing.

Remember when I said I'd like to buy it? Well, I don't have a recent job history to be able to borrow any money. That'll be another story….

So amidst having shingles, making three trips and leaving the place ALL cleaned up each time, and dealing with the inconveniences of showing the house, it hasn't sold. Perhaps God is holding it for me….I will continue to pray for guidance.