“H”ome, sweet home

Photo © Diane Weidenbenner

I was born and raised in Denver, Colo., and had no intentions of ever moving. The smog, traffic, nearby mountains and high-tech employment had always been “my home.” Due to a “providential” set of circumstances, I applied for and was offered a wonderful marketing position with a Catholic non-profit in Terre Haute, Ind., near where my husband was born.

After I accepted the offer, I had one day to fly out, look at houses with a realtor, make an offer on a house and return home. It seemed like an insurmountable task. Our realtor, Betty Lanke, was a seasoned professional in the area, and had created a list of houses based on our “hopes and dreams.” I had asked her to add a few that I had reviewed online as well.

My mother- and father-in-law drove up from Jasper to house hunt with me, since I wasn’t familiar with the area. They also did a great job of steadying my nerves at making this entire move to a new job, new city and new surroundings.

Betty had the patience of Job, that’s for sure. We had looked at many houses throughout the day but there was one house that I still couldn’t wait to see. The house had a video posted on the Internet and was billed as “Country charm in the city.” It was located in the older, north part of town but was built in the late 80s. My husband and I began referring to it as the “house with all the windows” because online it looked to have vaulted ceilings and a lot of windows, which we had become accustomed to with our Denver townhome.

To locate the house for sale, we first drove north on 12th street, looking for the address. The street abruptly ended in a field. We then drove around and went south on 12th street but the street again dead-ended. The address was no where to be found, and our realtor knew every inch of the city.

Upon closer inspection, we could see a little path that began at the very edge of the field where the weeds were flattened down. We had nothing to lose but a few balanced tires so we drove into the field. After 15 feet, the weed road opened up onto a rock road that led up to two houses that were built at the back of the property. There was no way of knowing that these two houses were back there and it was so peaceful, with the back of the houses facing woods and Lost Creek.

We ended up purchasing the house and successfully making the move to our new home, sweet home.  It was interesting to try and describe to the moving van how to find our house. “The street will end at the field. You’ll want to head into the field and proceed to the little rock road…”

We say now that finding our home was a blessing because after the hustle and bustle of the work week, it makes coming home a real treat. We are blessed with visits from all types of wildlife and we have a front-row seat to the birds harmonic choir. It’s our sanctuary, for sure.