The American Dream

For as long as I can remember, "The American Dream" has been synonymous with home ownership.  It represents far more than that, but at least when I was growing up, the most common chain of events included  getting your education, getting married, buying a house, and raising a family.  The majority of folks stayed fairly close by, though some of my peers ended up in faraway places.  Facebook has brought many of us closer together, but more often than not, most of us followed the most common chain of events, and ended up staying fairly close to home.

My daughter and her husband have taken a more interesting route in the chain of events - mixing things up a bit - with marriage, education, having a baby, working, more education, having another baby, more working, gaining full custody of Dustin's daughter, etc.  During their marriage, they've lived in a couple of rental places, before moving in with me in late 2007.  When I married in April of 2011, they stayed on in my home, while I moved in with Mr. Helms.  Earlier this year, I suggested that they go ahead and purchase my home, which was something we had discussed from time to time.  Whitney started doing some research, and discovered that with the housing market in such a shambles, they could purchase a much larger home, for less money than my current mortgage.  So, they began the exciting journey of purchasing their first home.  

It has been an agonizingly painful, gut-wrenching ride.  I have bought and sold five homes, two while married  to Whitney's dad, and three as a single mom.  Never did I experience even a fraction of the frustrating, wrist-slitting levels of stress involved in this pursuit of The American Dream.  Granted, none of the homes I purchased were in foreclosure, and I know this complicated the issue.  There were two government entities involved, two real-estate agents, a mortgage company, two closing attorneys, and the buyers.  Of course, with this many folks involved, things can be difficult to coordinate.  But I gotta tell ya... from what they experienced with the Freddie Mac folks... just one transaction in millions... I'm not surprised the housing market tanked.  I won't go into the gory details, but I think he will be a cold day in July before Whitney and Dustin are brave enough to attempt this again.  

All that said... the excruciatingly painful ordeal finally came to a close today.  (Pun intended.)  After one or two meltdowns, thousands of phone calls, and finally Dustin having to drive to the office of the attorney for the seller in Roswell, he arrived back in Winder at 5:00 today, and was able to hand-deliver the final packet of papers to the attorney representing them. The incomplete closing yesterday was completed with this transaction. It is finally official.  Whitney and Dustin are the proud owners of a 30-year mortgage, and a lovely home.  What an exciting day for them!!!!  I'm so proud of them for achieving The American Dream.  

Congratulations, Veal Family!!!  

Yes.  This is what the trees and the yard looked like when the process began.  

Winter.