I pulled up to our house this afternoon following a long day at the doctor's office just in time to see a healthy looking older man closing our side gate to walk into our back yard. I was a bit surprised as I certainly wasn't expecting anyone. Still, he didn't look menacing since I had only just spoken with my mother at my house watching our kids and everything was fine, I wasn't worried.
I had a very strong suspicion of who this man might be - the owner of the house!
Until today all we knew about the owner of our house was that he was a 'Doctor without Borders' type and hadn't lived here in a long while. I always had the sense that he must have a very good heart, and assumed that he retired from the practice of medicine here in the States and then began to travel to do good around the world. I wondered if his wife had passed on, and this was how he had decided to spend his golden years.
As it turns out, he *is* a very good man but the life story I had imagined for him was all wrong.
The gentleman in question, who I will call Felipe for the purposes of this blog, is of Latin heritage and grew up here. He moved to this house at the age of eight and went to the same local elementary school, junior high and high school that my children will attend. I am not sure where he went to medical school... but he said that they moved as a family to Mexico in 1972 and have been there ever since, including a 10 year sojourn in Guatemala that was cut short by local unrest. He and his wife currently live in Chiapas where he kindly gives his medical care to those who need it. Which means that Felipe has not lived in the United States in nearly 40 years! He is a grandfather with his youngest grandchildren already in college.
The home we now live in belonged to Felipe's parents, or at least to his mother. (I know this because we have found little cards with her elegant handwriting tacked to the walls.) He has fond sentimental memories of this home because it was his place of origin. I could see his eyes mist over a little as he strolled quickly through our house. I wonder if he was thinking of his mother.
Meeting Felipe today just makes me love living in this house even more!!!
Even better, he seems to be a very reasonable man - far more reasonable than we had been led to believe by the property management company. He said that it was no problem for us to put up screens, clear out the old tree and have SDGE check out the water heater for safety. All of the things that the property manager had said no to, Felipe said "If you're paying for it, no problem!"
In return, I invited him and his wife to have dinner with us while they are in town and I really hope he will take us up on it! They live a fascinating life and I would love to hear their stories and their perspective on life in mainland Mexico, especially so close to its southern border.
Here is the awful part though... of all days for him to stop by unannounced! Our house was just a shambles! The kitchen had dishes stacked on every counter, and there were at least 9 loads of laundry waiting by the washer. My kid has been home from school for the last few days and toys were everywhere. Not my finest moment as a homemaker, that is for sure! I hadn't even been in the house today, and so it REALLY really wasn't anything to be proud of.
Oh well... I promised Felipe that when he and his wife join us for dinner the house will be beautifully clean and he won't even recognize it.
(Just one more of the many times that I've wished I was a house goddess. I'll have to settle for being a demi-demi-goddess with good intentions!!!)
I love the way you can pray for guidance on something... and then by the grace of the Divine it comes to pass. I prayed for guidance on my health and a spider came into our house and bit me, causing me to go on doxycycline which is apparently also attacking my lyme disease and co-infections. I found out today that I will be on doxycycline for at least the next 60 days... which is actually a good thing. Thanks to the doxy I've been feeling SO much better and less arthritic than I had in months!
Similarly, I recently prayed for guidance on the multitude of spiders coming into our house (because of the terrible broken screens on our windows that we were not allowed to fix) and now the owner has shown up within days of my prayer and agreed that I could replace the screens. Yay! I'm thrilled.
This house really seems to be a special, magical place for us so far. Someday I will finally get around to scheduling a housewarming party so that it will actually look clean and tidy for our friends and family. I hope to make it as lovely a home for my children as it obviously was for Felipe when he grew here. I would love one day for my own sons to look back and reflect happily on their childhood in this sweet place, just as he does!
At this moment though, I'm most grateful for the little surprises that life continues to send our way. Even when they look bad at the outset (spiders, intruders) they often turn out to be wonderful!
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