When I Die

When I die are my friends going to think I was a dumbsit?  Maybe they think that now.  Hmmm.  Anyway, my client’s uncle is about to pass.  He’s fallen into “disrepair” in the past few months.   Since the market’s a little stagnant, they’re going to rent his house.  Due to the outrageous costs of health care, his finances need supplementing.  Did I just unknowingly create another reason to own a house?  Not related to the story – I’ll move on.

I went over there today to help them figure out what to do with all the stuff and how to prepare the house for a tenant.  Her husband said, “Well, here’s all of this wallets.  Remember when he said he needed a new wallet?  Well, he’s got ten of them.  Look!  They’re all new.”  A few minutes later, “Well, here are all of this watches.  Look, he must have eight of them here.  He said the other day he needed a new watch.”   “Look at all of these postcards.  He must have kept every one he ever received.  Oh, and look at this.  He kept all of his Christmas cards too.”  “Hey, honey, do you want one of these berets?  He’s got a whole bag of them.  This one says Australia.  Did he ever go to Australia?” 

She had spoken to him on the phone regularly.  He seemed fine.  A little forgetful, but who isn’t?  A call from social services initiates a visit to his house.  They sat talking for a few minutes which caused her to say, “I’m taking you to my house for the weekend.”  She packed up some clothes and he’s never been back.  And that’s how the house looks – he just ran out to the store.  Eerie.

I don’t consider myself to be green.  I recycle but I also drive a non-hybrid SUV.  Standing there, looking around, it would have been an incredible crime for the whole house to go to the dumps.  The hauler says, “Not the china, right?”  “No, that too.”  They live far away.  Busy.  Don’t have time or interest in a garage sale.  Don’t know any young, just-getting-started couples.   It’s going to cost $1500 to have it all hauled away.  Not bad – they thought it would cost a lot more. 

I drive off to my next appointment, but I’m still thinking about all that stuff.  A whole house full of stuff.  Dishes, silverware, beds, dressers, dining room set, tv, stereo, lamps, chairs, couch…on and on.  The Salvation Army?  No…OH!  The Resource Center.  I call the Resource Center.  “Do you have anyone who needs household items?”  “What kind of household items?”  “A house full of items.”  “You have a house full of stuff?”  “Yeah, you name it, it’s there.”  “Oh, my god!  We have a family who has nothing!”  “Nothing?”  “They don’t have a thing.”

And at Christmas too.  That conversation made my day – my month – no! – my year!  Hooray!  One day a family has nothing; the next day they have a home.   Realtors create homes in many ways.  I love my job.