After ten years in our new house it wasn’t new any more. We had shrubs and flowers about, and a tree grew in the front yard. I had finished a room in the attic for two growing boys and one room remained unfinished. Since the boys occupied the upstairs room it seemed reasonable to provide them a bathroom near their sleeping quarters and so I had a dormer added to the back of the house with toilet and bath facilities installed. I thought the house was adequate for our family of six, but the children were growing and we could use a little more room. And so it was that Mary kept an eye open for something more appropriate for the family.

It came to pass that she found a house for sale in a long settled part of town among other large houses. It was on a quiet street near Faurot Park. Of course we had to go look at the house. It was more than adequate for our family and the price seemed more than adequate as well. The house with window shutters that no longer worked sat back of a small front yard, a hedge on one side, a driveway on the other. The back yard was a three-tiered area with ample lilacs, peonies, trees and a garage.

Entrance was gained from a stoop with its own roof to an area with the living room to the left and the stairway to the right. The stairs, living room and adjacent dining room were all covered by a rich burgundy colored carpet. Access to the kitchen from the dining room was through a small butler’s pantry. A breakfast nook and a mudroom type back porch flanked the kitchen. A screened-in porch abutted the living room. Three bedrooms and a bathroom were upstairs. The master bedroom with bath was huge, extending the full length of the front of the house. Besides all this were a finished attic and a three-room basement housing an old-fashioned, gravity-operated hot air furnace, modified for gas. There was more, but what else could one want. Mary loved the house and it was plain to see she had her heart set on it.

The owner had acquired the house hoping to make a profit. I thought he might settle for less profit than he hoped for. Mary and I mulled over the situation. We’d have to go through the hassle of selling our house and get a new loan, increasing our debt. I learned from my father to abhor debt. Nevertheless we decided how much debt we could tolerate and to make an offer.

Although I liked the house, Mary, being much more interested than I, took it upon herself to keep track of negotiations. She seemed very optimistic that we would get the house. As days passed she was bubbly and happy. Everything was going very well—until one day when I came home from work to find her in tears.

“I’m so miserable”, she said, “Somebody has made a better offer on our house”.

“It’s not our house,” I said, “Did somebody buy the house?”

“No, but things looked so good yesterday.”

“Don’t fret, all is not lost. Tomorrow we’ll go look at other houses,” I said, trying to consol her.

Mary, her bubbly spirit dampened, kept track of the negotiations for the next week or two. Finally she told me the owner had made a new proposal. Evidently the higher bidder couldn’t make the down payment for a loan.

“He’ll take our house with its mortgage as part payment for his house,” she said.

“Good, then maybe we can afford it.”

“But there’s a catch,” she said, “You have to finish the other attic room.”

“OK,” I groaned and set to work on the weekend. I bought and installed the wallboard, finished the floor and did the necessary painting. It turned out to be more work than I wanted but I eventually finished and we moved into our new abode. We were welcomed by new neighbors and settled in to make the house a comfortable home for the rest of Mary’s life.