Brian always loved a project and he had always wanted to build
his own home. We were going to give him
an acre of land so that he could do that and he wanted a builder to come in and
get it dried in for him and then let him take it over and finish it a little a
time as he could pay for it so that when he got it built it would be paid
for. We found him a suitable acre on the
other side of our property and called a builder he quoted him $30,000 to get
the foundation laid and get it dried in.
At the time, there were hundreds upon hundreds of foreclosures in the area
and many were in very bad shape. Some
could be bought for just a little more than it would have cost to get a small
house dried in by a builder. Donald and
I decided if he was in any way interested in something like that – we would get
a home equity loan on our house and purchase one and let him do the
renovations. I told him “By the time you
get through with some of these houses you will feel like you built it from the
ground up!” We set out to find one that
was in poor shape “cosmetically” but in a good location and had a good workable
floor plan and no big money issues. We
found exactly that and closed on the house right after Paxton was born.
The house was a wreck!
But I saw potential. I just hoped
and prayed they could.
I knew what Brian was capable of but Kara did not and I wasn’t
sure she wouldn’t just walk in and either burst into tears or walk right back
out. But she surprised me as she always
seemed to do as she just walked into that ridiculous mess and started making
plans for how they would “paint this a pretty color gray and put an island
right here in the kitchen and we can make that little room downstairs into an
office”.
Brian and Kara were so excited until they could hardly wait
to get started on it although the baby was newborn and Kara was fresh out of
the hospital she wasted no time in diving in paint brush in hand.
Oh my goodness that house was a disaster. It had sat empty for quite some time and had
been vandalized multiple times apparently. There were no less than 150 holes in
the walls and doors. There was no
flooring at all just plywood sub floor.
Half of the kitchen cabinets were missing, all of the appliances stolen,
pieces of baseboard ripped off with a crowbar leaving huge holes in the wall
where there should have been baseboard.
The living room had cathedral ceilings one main wall painted 20 feet
high in red enamel! The master bedroom had
a beautiful tray ceiling and bay window and the entire thing was
painted in the Georgia Bulldog colors of red and black – even the ceiling.
The master bath
had all of the fixtures ripped out of the garden tub and holes the size of
saucers in the wall over the toilet where a cabinet had literally been ripped
off the wall. Not one single room was
even remotely livable. Every door in the
entire house needed replacing. But the
house had good bones and no real money damage.
The roof was good. Miraculously,
the heat and air system was intact and operable and the copper not ripped out
of the electrical box. There were no
termites. No plumbing problems. No foundation problems and it sat on a full
acre of very pretty land that backed up to a large tract of woods.
Brian and Kara worked night and day priming, painting,
laying wood floor, installing custom tile in the kitchen, all new oak cabinets,
new counter tops, new fixtures and appliances, and all new interior doors. He refinished the steps going down to the
basement and they were stunning. He even
built a custom-made baby gate to match the stair rail and spindles.
Brian's baby gate
He installed
cabinets in the laundry room and built Kara her island for the kitchen. She was right there beside him working like a
master contractor.
Brian took $8,000 and the two of them together turned it
into a dollhouse. They enjoyed every
minute of it and they worked together like a precision team.
They were so excited to see that house go from a non-livable
dump to a beautiful home and they were so proud of their own accomplishments. It was not only building them a home to raise
Paxton in – but building blocks for their marriage too. A symbol of what they could accomplish when
they worked together as a team. And the
best part was that it would be completely paid for in seven years.
After they got moved in they continued with the decorating
and renovations to the house and yard.
They cleaned up the yard; cut down trees; made flower beds. At Kara's request I dug up Hosta and rooted her three or four Hydrangea from my yard and she carefully planned where to put them in her new flower bed. They cleared
out a spot for a fire pit for summer evening family time. They had even recently decided to try their
hand at gardening and Brian built garden boxes so Kara could plant herbs, tomatoes,
cucumbers, lettuce and even a crop of “corn” in an 8X8 box!
The one main hold out on the renovation was the three piece
front door set. He had never tackled
anything like that as it had a palladium window above it and he wasn’t sure
what would hold that up if he removed the door.
So that was last on the list. He
had caught the door Kara had chosen on sale and bought it and let it sit in the
garage for a year until he could figure out where to begin. About three weeks before they died he found
what it took to take the old door, side lights and frame out and replace it
with the new one; meticulously painted in the color Kara chose. That completed the main living space of the
house and he was moving on to the downstairs man cave.
Over the summer he had been cutting, splitting and stacking
firewood to be prepared for the winter.
The house with the high ceilings was difficult to heat and they kept a
fire burning most of the time so all summer long as he came up on downed trees
anywhere he asked if he could clean it up and he brought it home in
anticipation of a cold winter. About May
he began construction on a huge woodshed.
It was as tall as a one story house and three sided and vented to keep
the wood dry and rot free. Many days as
he was out working on the woodshed, Paxton was right there pretending
to hammer right along side his daddy. He had just finished filling up it with about four truckloads of split firewood.
I have learned recently exactly what hopelessness means. When I wake up and have no desires to even see tomorrow; no hope for the future; no dreams and no plans.
Totally unlike Brian. He looked forward to the future. He had wishes, dreams, desires & plans.
He did not know hopelessness and dying was not in his plan.
Totally unlike Brian. He looked forward to the future. He had wishes, dreams, desires & plans.
He did not know hopelessness and dying was not in his plan.
