| As I sit on the steps in my house and look around at the chaos, I come to a couple of realizations. But first a little back story to catch everyone up: My wife and I own a house on East Main in Murfreesboro. We got married here. We’ve hosted parties here and raised money here for the community. We’ve opened it up for parades, for guests and for friends. We had it as a short term rental for a bit and hosted family reunions for strangers. We put chalk out on the sidewalk during Covid and hosted an impromptu art gallery. We’ve used this home for good. We had dreams and visions of making the home better. Yes for ourselves and our family, but also for community functions. That was always in our mind in the design ideas. We trusted someone to help us get there. To carry our dream to reality. And this guy stole from us. He stole money. He stole energy. He stole time. And to make matters worse, he stole from the community. He stole from his subcontractors. He stole a place and a period of time that could have done good for the community. He stole pieces out of this house that could have preserved the 100 year history of this place always being a community gathering place. Mr. Lively used it much the same as I do. The realizations I’ve reached are as follows: 1) I am not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I can be conned. 2) I should listen to my instincts. As soon as it started sideways, I should have ended it. 3) time is much more precious than money. Losing Jonas’ senior year here, McCoy’s 8th grade year and now freshman year at a new school. Not hosting my friends, not having family here making memories and traditions is far greater a loss than the very large sum of money he took. 4) I have great friends. I’ve had so many reach out, offer and show up to help. 5) I don’t always have the answers. I’m not 100% sure how we will afford to finish the house given the amount he stole from us. We will finish it. We will be fine. But it causes tremendous anxiety. 6) this episode in life truly pressure tests my whole “people that things happen to and people that make things happen” philosophy. I am always in the “people that make things happen” camp. But lately I have found myself slipping to the woe is me “why did this happen to me” dark side. It is miserable there btw. 7) most important, my wife is my peace. She is smart and strong and steady. I’ve seen her more shaken than I am used to but she is so strong. And she carries this family. We would be in real trouble without her. Many people ask me how I do all things that I do and the answer is, I have Lici. We will get through this. We will have a beautiful home and we will open it to the community again. We will host parties. We will love on our friends. We will have laughter and memories and family in here again. This place will be a blessing again to many. We just gotta figure some stuff out. |
