2017 in Review

I like being a real estate agent. I like the work. And it’s nice to like your job…it makes the whole idea of working more pleasurable. Earning a living doing something you enjoy so you can do your life…it’s a good thing.

But it’s not the best thing…

The best thing is moments.

Those moments that feel like gifts. The moments too precious to think of as work…the precious real-life moments that are a privilege to be present in…

2017 had moments…

Rita was sure she was ready to downsize…Larry? Not so much. Larry liked his set up in his man cave basement. His fish tank, the pool table, his makeshift home office, his recliner and big screen tv…he was comfortable. And he liked the familiarity of where he’d lived for twenty plus years…the grocery store, the best place to get this or that, it all worked for him. But Rita wanted to get closer to the grandkids and Larry was grudgingly willing to consider it.

We started looking at properties, we’d already been through a few. It was the day we saw a little house in Lockport and Larry was taking a look around…and I asked him… “What do you think?” and Larry said…”I could see myself here.” To be there and see the look on his face, to sense in that moment he began letting go of his man cave and began looking forward to a home near the grandkids…

That was a moment.

Debbie’s husband Joe passed away earlier in the year. The house they had built together was too much to keep up with alone.  When we found Debbie the perfect townhouse on our first time out, Debbie said, “I know Joe is helping me do this.” To be there with her at a moment of both holding on and moving on…

That was a moment.

When I  unlocked the door to the adorable house on Olive and Janet and I walked in and I turned and looked at her. She had tears in her eyes. It was right there on her face  “Oh my gosh can I do this? Oh my gosh am I really going to do this? Oh my, I love this house.” And it happened with me standing right there…

That was a moment.

There was a moment when Fran and Tony found the house they were looking for which wasn’t so much a house they were looking for as it was a piece of property with a house on it. And we found it.

There was a moment when Gary said he was putting a new roof on the house but he really wanted the new buyer to pick out the color.

There was a moment when Chris was face timing with his mom in Ohio during the final walk through of his and Robyn’s new home.

There were lots and lots of moments with my niece Lisa and her husband Rick while we searched and found and had to find again their perfect forever home.

And when Mary Ann and I were standing in her kitchen and she’s telling me she can’t believe she’s doing it but she’s moving to Arizona and her face reflected both the fear and excitement in doing such a thing…that was a moment.  Later when she asks me my size and then gives me her beautiful plaid Christmas coat and tells me it will make her happy knowing I will love that coat as much as she did…that was a moment with a cherry on top!

My daughter Joanna is an Account Supervisor with a marketing firm in the city and these last few months she’s been helping me organize and improve the work we do. And “Wow” have we gotten some stuff done…new logo, new website, improved processes. It’s exciting knowing what’s been good is going to be even better. But it’s our Saturday status work sessions…working together, being together… so many moments.

Some years are better than others. Some years I’m in the top 5 in production in my office, some years I barely make it in the top 10…sometimes my business is up and sometimes it’s down. But every year I am grateful for a job that I love…and grateful most of all…for the folks that have given me the privilege of being present in…the moments.

2017 was no different…2017 had moments!