Paul and Rachel Jones had lived in Oak Grove Park for thirty-one years. They had been married less than a year when they first entered the three story house. Their neighbors had come and gone over the years. All their children played at the local playground, swam at the local pool, and attended school in the area. Those days were gone. Even their youngest child had left them and only came to visit several times a year.
Everything was going fine in their large, empty house until Rachel Jones retired. Cleaning rooms that had not been used in months and would probably not be used for months more was a dismal task. It took up most of her free time. She realized they needed a smaller home, so one they would still be able to clean it and take care of basic repairs, even in their old age.
Six months after retiring, she told Paul she wanted to find another house. Her husband agreed with her right away, but it was another month or two before they actually did anything about it. With bills to pay and places to go, finding a new home was not high on their priority list.
They called a real estate agent who appointed somebody to help them with the buying and selling process. She gave them advice on what would be best to improve the value of their home. This meant more work than ever. Help from their children, friends, and neighbors, and their children's friends and neighbors greatly decreased their work load. After the improvements were made they immediately got several offers. Selling their home would not be a problem. The problem was finding a new home they actually liked. Many houses were shown to them, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Some houses looked better than others but none of them really stood out over the others. None of their top three picks matched.
Paul liked one house but Rachel thought the bedroom was too small. Rachel liked another house, but Paul thought it had a poor quality yard. Both of them liked yet another house but the house had steep stairs which would become a problem as they got older. It looked like they would never be able to find a house that met all their criteria. For the time being, they were content to keep their old home for awhile looker and keep on looking.
Just when they were about to compromise and pick a house that did not meet all their needs, they came across what appeared to the perfect home. The yard was full of grass and flowers, yet small enough for an elderly couple to maintain. All the rooms were on the same floor so there were no stairs to worry about. The bedroom was large and comfortable and it had plenty of closet space for storing things. Even the price was considerably less than they expected it to be.
They were eager about the prospective new home but they were also cautious. A combined one hundred twenty-one years of life experience had taught them when something appeared too good to be true, it usually was.
John and Debbie Langsford were the current owners of the house. Both of them appeared to still be in their twenties. Just from looking at the way they shuffled around made it clear they did not want to keep the house any longer than necessary.
"Does this house have any major problems?" asked Paul Jones asked.
Even though this was information they needed to know he still felt awkard asking the question. He knew all houses had problems of some sort and if nothing was wrong, that meant something was very wrong.
"This house belonged to my parents," John finally managed to stammer. "My father died weeks after they moved here. My mom died a year later."
"The house is no longer of any use to us," added Debbie.
"I am sorry to hear that," said Rachel. "You have our sympathy."
Paul and Rachel looked at each other with a silent understanding. The couple who previously lived in the house had been in a similar situation to their own. Life offered no guarantees. Death could come quickly, without warning or slowly through a painful disease. All they could do was take what was yet to come as it came. Everything going wrong was just as impossible as everything going right.
Later that day, they agreed to buy the house. Because the price was lower than they expected, they were not as picky about the details as they would have been otherwise. The Langsfords seems willing to accept any reasonable offer.
Finally came the day of the move. They put their best furniture into their new home. What was left over was given away, either to friends and family or to charity.
All the ghosts could rest. They knew the history of their home and it did not bother them too much. Preparing to live life one day at a time, they knew they had the best years of their lives ahead of them.
Copyright 2007, Steve Lucky
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