The Upsides of Our Family Foreclosure

We found out about the foreclosure by accident. Little boys aren’t the best at keeping secrets, and during a Friday afternoon drive home, my husband’s 11-year-old son let the cat out of the bag: “I guess the drive will take a little longer when we live with Joe and Diane,” he said.

We knew right away that his mom was losing her home—their home. My stepson and stepdaughter would be moving from their pale yellow house on a quiet, tree-lined street into a basement apartment at their cousin’s new home. I was nauseous with anger, furious that their mother had sold the house she and my husband once shared and landed everyone in this predicament—and also devastated for the woman who had become my unlikely friend…