Big REALTOR Daddy

I am home tonight, alone & playing Mr. Mom with the Little Begotten, while Mommy is in Queens cleaning the in-law’s apartment to prepare it for the market. Her parents have been in Seoul, Korea for the past year and unfortunately my father in law’s health precludes him from returning to the States. Sad. Given our busy schedule, Valentine’s day was the perfect day for Ann to spend the day at the apartment.

I’ll miss the place. My wife grew up there. It is the root of all her childhood memories. I remember the first time I was there, in December of 2000, for my first-ever dinner with my future in-laws. I also remember the time we spent there after we were married, sharing a great deal of time together with her parents. My fondest memory of the place was the night Ann told me that we were expecting a baby, all of 2 months after we were wed. It was one of the few times in my life I was speechless.

That baby is now in the next room with his 3 siblings. He’s no baby anymore. Luke is an ebulant 6-year old who loves reading, chess, and building things. He’s also not at all happy that he won’t see his mother until tomorrow, after she crashes at Grandma and Grandpa’s place and takes the train up tomorrow morning.

As much as he feels out of place, I feel out of place too, not just because I am wearing an apron, but because my wife and I will start wearing the hat of home sellers again. Don’t get me wrong; I love the broker we’re hiring. He finishes my sentences. But we too will undergo the process of sweating out showings, feedback, offers, negotiation, mortgage, co op board approval, moving 30 years of life out before closing. It isn’t easy. It will make us better agents, as empathy usually does, but it will be another hat to wear.

And that is why I am wearing an extra hat tonight. Not the most romantic Valentines day, but like John Lennon said, life is what happens when you are making other plans.   

Luke in his hanbok on his Tol (1st birthday) with Grandpa and Grandma