I've Decided I'll Bloom Where I'm Planted

The lure of a $6,500.00 tax credit along with the encouragement of relatives nearly caused my family and I to move away from our beloved home, neighborhood and community. My husband and I searched last November, December and January and found a much larger home in a great area of town for which we decided to buy.

The large home appealed to us since our current 1100 square foot home is small for our family of six. That did not deter our 7 year old son to declare to us that, “this house is like a mansion to me,” in trying to convince us he did not want to move! He has friends in the neighborhood and he can walk to school.

Tears flowed from our 15 year daughter’s eyes at the thought of leaving behind the choke cherry tree we had planted eleven years ago in our backyard in memory of her grandmother. Grandma, who is my mother, was buried in the Cemetary which is located just behind the fence of our back yard. How could I leave her?

My husband and I thought about the children’s concerns and decided we were choosing where we will live long term while the children will grow up and move away regardless. So on with the moving plans we went.

We decided to sell our house on our own. We would have some help from the sellers of the house we were going to buy because they were both real-estate agents. They came through our house and felt we could get it sold within two months so they took their house off the market to give us that amount of time to sell our home. This was very appealing to us and drove us to move forward in selling our home to buy theirs.

We went so far as putting together a for sale sign for the front of our house. We posted our home on the internet and were just about to run an open house ad in the newspaper when I decided to stop the whole process cold turkey.

I just could not bring myself to put that for sale sign in our yard. I had to convince my husband why I had a change of heart and these are the reasons why:

First, our church and school are 5 blocks away from our current home. We dearly love our Parish and the many wonderful people. The church has a 24 hour adoration program where somebody is always at church praying. I have my own regular hour each week. I just could not move far away from my dear church.

The school is fabulous. One bright young alumni of the school had received the Presidential Scholar award in 2009. My own 10 year old son enjoys being in a reading classics group called “Page One”. The academics of the school and it’s extended programs are superb. I didn’t want to take my well adjusted children out of this wonderful school.

Next, the neighborhood and community are great. We live right around the corner from a popular street with tons of kids. My close neighbor had recently counted how many children presided on the 5 block stretch of avenue where we live and she came up with 59. I didn't know where else in town there would be that many children living so close and with such great access to a pool, park, tennis complex and trails that are provided by our nearest park. I realized I would be leaving that all behind.

The Neighborhood Association is one of the strongest in Lincoln and continues to make the community clean, safe and friendly through it’s dedicated board and many projects which keep this area a great place to live. Why would I want to leave that umbrella of support?

I must admit that an important factor in my decision was that I couldn’t stomach the higher monthly mortgage payments that would have come with the purchase of a much larger home. We qualified for financing but it really was not a logical decision in my mind. The price wasn’t worth what our family would be giving up.

Lastly and possibly the most interesting is that I am attached to the cemetary behind my house just like my 15 year old daughter is. I know many great souls who have been laid to rest back there.

Jennifer Finder, a young mother who succombed to breast cancer, is buried directly behind my house. Her story made news because she first battled her cancer while she was pregnant. She has touched many lives through her fight to save the life of herself and her child. Her son survived.

Madonna Addison, my daughters first grade teacher, is now buried back there. She battled cancer along with my daughter during the time that she was in her class. She will always have a special place in our hearts.

Nathan Raun, who died of a brain tumor at the age of 13 is back there. He still touches lives. New York Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain played youth baseball with him and continues wearing a version of Nates number 8. Joba’s is now 62. You’ll hear New York Yankee announcers talk about Nathan’s impact on Joba’s life often during games.

The list could go on and on about the cemetary. It is truly a treasure right in our midst. I feel privileged to live by it. It always helps me remember how I should live my life! Why would I give that up? A bonus to the cemetary is that walking or running twice through the streets on the inside edge of it is one mile.

I’ve decided I’ll just add on to my house and make it bigger someday and bloom where I‘m planted.

What do love about the neighborhood you live in?