Sometimes, The Biggest Decisions Are the Easiest

I received a phone call last Thursday from a lady who is in a pretty difficult situation. She is a 78 year old widow currently undergoing kidney dialysis 3 days a week. On top of this, she is now behind on her mortgage payments. She has lived in her home for over 40 years, and has no desire to move. As we talked about the memories contained within the home, she shared the story of her kitchen floor.

The kitchen floor?

Yep, the kitchen floor. You see, her husband put that floor in. She told me of conversations they had when he was working on that floor. It was as if it was done last week, but it’s really been decades. People tend to hold on to tangible memories of their loved ones who are no longer among them. For her, every trip to the kitchen is a reminder of him. She even told me that she sometimes goes in there and talks with him as if he’s there. She jokingly told me how her kids look at her funny when she does this. She assures them that she has not lost her mind. It’s just that they had so many meaningful conversations in that kitchen, that it is a place where she sometimes goes to have another one with him, even if it’s now only a monologue.

For this special lady, a reverse mortgage is the biggest decision she’s had to make in the two years since he’s been gone.

But for her, it’s also the easiest.