How Much I Admired Her Honesty

Nearly our entire day was cold and heavily overcast which wasn’t pleasant whenever I was outdoors. With our days growing ever-shorter, I’m back in the swing of going to work in the dark, and returning home in it which makes for short days and long nights.

Most of my morning was filled with proofing the ads I’m having placed in the Globe Gazette next week, along with doing some deep research on a home I was called to look at this morning, and fortunately there was enough information I gleaned out of my various resources to speak intelligently about values.

When I arrived, the seller was there waiting for me, so after our introductions, I was willingly given the full tour of the home both inside and out. When we sat down to discuss pricing, I was a bit shocked when the seller mentioned what she thought the home was worth. After being told, the look on my face would’ve been worthy of a photo because what she thought the home was worth, and even in a bad day, was a very many thousands of dollars less. I then proceeded to share printouts of comparable properties in the area, to where I think she finally got the picture. There were some cosmetic items I felt needed to be done before I would list it, and fortunately she agreed to have them taken care of. For sure, that was the first in a very long time since I’ve had a seller think a home was worth some much less. Thank goodness one of those “I’ll Buy it Now” investors didn’t get ahold of her before I did.

Since it was noontime when I drove away from the home, I figured I’d stop at McDonald’s and grab a small sandwich, and wouldn’t you know, when I pulled up to the window to pick it up, a woman opened the window and asked, “Would you like for free, a mocha cafe?” I was a bit dumbfounded for a moment, and then said, “Sure.” Oh my goodness, what she handed me was likely the biggest I’d ever seen. It even had a big swirl of whipped cream atop. You can bet I thanked her profusely before driving away.  Without going into detail, after drinking that biggie, I was ready for a nap. Yes, it was very good, which will perhaps have me pulled into buying one of them as a personal treat from time to time.

There was some additional banking I needed to get done, but before heading out, I went back to my storage area to grab a big piece of frosted glass from a pile I’d been saving and using from over these many years. I needed today’s piece to be cut into two separates which I’ll be using to replace two windows in the front door of the project I’ve been working on, and the only reason, is most people for whatever reason, always put curtains or shades over those upper windows, just so they don’t have someone peeking inside which I’ve always thought to be a little on the paranoid side.

My first stop was at the bank, and then over to a glass company to have them cut those two pieces. Thank goodness there was someone there who could cut it, so I stood around waiting for it, just so I didn’t have to make another trip. It didn’t take them long, and believe it or not they even sanded the sharp edges and wrapped those pieces in paper for me, but when I went to pay, the clerk said, “No charge. Merry Christmas.” I was again in shock they did that for free, and before I left, I mentioned what happened earlier at McDonald’s. Once again I profusely gave thanks before I left. After today’s surprises, I’m all the more convinced there are still some darned good people living in North Iowa.

From there, I headed over to my project and dropped that glass off, and since the sun was finally out, I got a good daylight look at the progress, and after seeing everything’s that been done thus far more clearly, I’d say it’ll soon be over. It’s been an uphill battle, but the end product is gonna be worth it.

After arriving back at office, I went back and cracked some additional black walnuts which I added to those I’d already harvested these past several days, and only to make sure there’d be enough to gift someone worthy of them who’d be stopping by my office later this afternoon.

When she arrived, I handed two zip-lock bags full of them which I had placed in a brown paper bag. After thanking me numerous times, I mentioned there being more contained than the pound I had earlier promised. I’m just glad they were going to someone who’s an excellent baker and knows how to put them to good use.

My last duty of the day, was to stop over to Hogan Bremer Funeral Home, just to pay my respects to the family of Virginia Pruessner who was the broker/owner of a real estate company here in Mason City for a number of years.

As I suspected, there were a number of people already there, so I signed the register and dropped my card in the box and headed in to share my personal thoughts about her with her family. To each and every one of them I mentioned how much I admired Virginia because from the very beginning of her career, I could tell she was an exceptionally straight-shooter. At one point in time, I mentioned to her how much I admired her honesty, and her only remark was, “That’s the only way to be.” After she retired, we did stay in contact, and in spite of her having moved to Missouri, there would always be a “drop in” whenever she was here visiting her children. She did move back about five years ago, just to be closer to her children and grandchildren.

The only thing I was sorry about, was not having known she was dying, because I would’ve definitely gone over to see her. Yes, she was one heck of a good person.

Tonight’s One-liner is: Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

Joe Chodur

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