Revisiting the Dream

So what would you do if all of a sudden an old dream from your childhood was suddenly dropped in your lap…like say, 50 years later? You would at least revisit that dream, wouldn’t you?  I mean at least on a superficial level.

Suppose after a day or two, the realization hits you, that the dream is not going away. But even more than that, the dream is actually currently very attainable.

Then, after even more careful analysis, what if you find the dream actually makes sense? Good sense. And in only a flash of a moment, suddenly the current satisfaction of your life has changed. Maybe that had been slowing taking place, and one simply hadn’t come to the realization, yet.

So it was for me this week, when I went on a spur of the moment drive, Sunday evening.

I met a loved one for dinner, and he handed me a real estate flyer advertising a home I had been in love with since my childhood.  I had spoken with him of my childhood dream, and he knew I would appreciate seeing this. The 1907 Victorian home on the hill was for sell. What is more, it was very reasonably priced.

Somewhere along the time frame within those 50 years, that home I viewed as "the mansion on the hill that the rich people lived in” became affordable to me!  Now a thought like that will certainly get ones attention.

“Let’s drive by”, I said with earnest excitement.

“Not gonna stop”, he replied matter-of-factly.

“That’s ok; I will come back after you take me to my car.” 

And so I went back. I walked around in the yard a bit, trying not to be disrespectful in my wanderings. Oh my goodness, the view! The yard! The windows!! A 4^th floor attic, the flyer stated!!!  DREAM home!  Dream location!

Ok, so I am dreaming in type before I have even spoken with my husband. That is probably not too smart...but it's only a dream. I'm simply thinking out loud. What I do know is if my husband catches this dream, it is a done deal. He has a way of making happen that which he believes should happen.

For the record, there is no other place on earth that could call me from my present home like this has.  I love our home, and it has long fulfilled another childhood dream.  The truth is, I have never wanted to leave here. But things are changing. My son is gone. I am experiencing the empty nest syndrome. (Not doing very well there, I'm afraid.) I am taking care of 10 acres mostly by myself. It has become too much work. I can no longer enjoy it. If not for the weekly trips into town, I would find it entirely doable. But I just feel like I can’t do it anymore. The joy in it is dissipating. I have been realizing it slowly…trying to keep up with the arduous tasks that just never seem to end….and I am not talking simply about the tasks at my home.

I have to ask myself… “Am I running away?”  Maybe - but I would like to bring that which distracts me from my current home with me.  That way everything would be in only one place. That dreadful drive that I hate more than hate itself would be over. And if I only had to do the drive once a week, from a distance further, that would be much better than the 3 or 4 times a week that I do now. Certainly not saying this part of it would work out. This part involves much more than my passing fancy or thought.

And if that part of my thought process didn’t happen, I would still chase the dream. I could still make a weekly trip down that dreaded highway, I have reasoned. But there wouldn’t be quite so much.

 

Of course, I would miss my horses; but right now, I feel like that is all I would miss. I could conceivably board them out, probably just minutes from my new home.  The house is on a hill with magnificent views of a place that I love, but there are no HIGH, scary roads to get there. A few minutes to town; a few minutes to the country! I could go to work within 3 minutes of my home, if I so chose! The home and yard are cared for with impeccable attention. Further and probably the most key issue - I firmly believe we could lower our payments in the process. This is almost frightenly doable.

As we age, we won’t be able to keep the beautiful place we have now forever, anyway. The acreage will become too difficult to care for properly. This all comes a bit premature, but not by much. The attainability of it is almost mind-boggling. It would be wrong not to pray it through; tragic, to ignore the possibility that this may be a direction the Lord does indeed have for us.

If nothing else, I am enjoying reliving the dream of my childhood, and shaking my head that something like that could actually happen. I am going to make an appointment to view. And then if I like what I see and he is able to catch the excitement, I am going to make another appointment for my husband to view.

 

It might be a bit too big of a home for people our age, but there could be at least as many years there as we have had here. That would be worth it. I always said I would one day retire in that city. Two dreams in one. What more could one ask?

I think I’m ready.

“Restored home,”- the flyer states. “Beautiful woodwork, hardwood floors, round porch with balcony; claw foot tub and pedestal sink”.  “Character within its walls.”  I knew that from the first time I saw it all those years ago.  The dream deserves a visit.