Stephanie Walker
5 Things We Learned From Losing Our Dream Home
On June 30, 2009, we handed over the keys to our dream home, a beautiful house on a ridge in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. We had lost the 10-month battle to save it and were headed into the unknown with nothing but the solace that we had at least avoided foreclosure — and more importantly, that we had each other. We finally got it. It took losing our dream home to profoundly ground us in what really matters and teach us that it’s possible to be happy in the face of any circumstance… even foreclosure.
Here’s what we learned along the way.
1. Love wins. In the battle between love and money, love definitely wins. I know this for fact. I had the chance to prove it…
A House Used to Own Me
I used to own a house. Or, rather, a house owned me. A three- bedroom, 1.75-bath, mid-century modern home on a ridge in Los Angeles, Calif. with views that fed the soul. From the first moment we stepped through the front door, I belonged to this house.
Now? Well, now I sit on a couch in a basement surrounded by our stuff—what’s left of it. Piles of folded clothes, garbage bags stuffed with hats and purses and shoes, sleeping bags and electronic equipment. Books and boxes. My laptop. In my lap. This basement belongs to my mom and stepdad. It is located in Barrington, Ill., 2,014 miles away from the place we called home for the last seven years until we, narrowly avoiding foreclosure, sold everything and hit the road. I am 34 and I, with my husband, our pug dog and what is left of our belongings, have moved back in with my parents
This is not a sad story. This is anything but…
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