Most stories don't follow a predictable path like Disney Classics. Sometimes the princess retains weight after an unexpected pregnancy and the once handsome prince turn out to be anything but charming. A long time ago, in an ordinary town hidden from most maps, there lived a happy couple that had just spent 3 years remodeling the same house their hand built with their own hands 20 years earlier. The house was a home for the couple and their 6 children. It was a place of hard work and happy memories. The structure aged as did its occupants until it was time for significant improvements to be made. The couple spent $50,000 meticulously remodeling the kitchen on the weekends. They painted each interior wall during the evenings after an already long day at work. Their 1 acre lot featured other buildings as well: a workshop that doubled as a family functions hall, and a cinder block shed housing all their well worn hand tools. After 20 years of projects, their kingdom was complete. Looking back we might assume they intended to live happily ever after. However, the prince of this family began to itch. He didn't have any more projects. He had completed all that his damsel had asked. As seasons passed that itch quickly began to grow. In this story that itch also coincides with a mid-life crisis. The man decided a project was the cure. He wanted to buy another house and fix it up. The prospective house was a merger shanty fit only for peasants. Today's folk might call it a dump. Bravely however, this man bought the house, and immediately the family went to work. The family team tore down interior walls and found dust covered snakes and rodents. Removing an old brick fire place and chimney exposed the house to elements and resulted in flooding one raining New Year's night. Popcorn ceilings caused hours of reaching, sneezing, and maybe cursing. A sunken floor was raised along with 2 additions, a porch, and a large garage. The work seemed to carry on without an end. The sweet princess was strong and supportive. She tirelessly designed the new spaces in her mind months before they existed. She was designing yet another castle, a quieter place where they could would spend the rest of their lives. The couple was making two house payments and eating into savings. Long term plans involved selling the first house and using the proceeds to complete the second. Without warning, our story took a nasty turn as the real estate market crash cut the value of their original caste in half. Times were desperate and a sale had to take place. The big budget of our prince and princess turned into one more suitable for farm hands.
The prince and princess our my sweet parents. They are the hardest working people I know. For over two years they lived in the dark and cold basement. They added an addition which included a huge garage, kitchen, a tool room, a sewing room, and Master Bathroom. All the while living in the basement with no dishwasher, makeshift tables sitting on cinder blocks and eating out of Styrofoam for as many meals as they could. Now, three years after moving in they finally have a finished kitchen, and the upstairs is basically finished, except for the main living area. You could call it a family room, dining room, living room because it serves all of these purposes. It is a great big open floor plan that fits these parents of 6 kids and grandparents of 13.
