Several days ago a retiree whom I sold a home to about 5 years ago called just to play catch up with what has been going on with our lives. Back when I first met her, she was just retiring from a teaching position in a community college out West. We found that we shared many similar interests so we had many things to talk about. There were several reasons for her choice to purchase a home in Mason City. The first and foremost was the price. She found she could live more comfortably here on her pension and Social Security than where she was currently living. The second reason is that she has several cousins that live in this State. I could listen to her story telling for hours about the jobs she had and the places she lived not only here in the States but also other countries. What I found even more interesting about her at the time was her gentle demeanor. In speaking about what’s been happening in the Downtown these past several years, she said, “I had always felt when I first arrived in Mason City that the Downtown was just on the edge.” She went on to say, “I believed that by being on the edge, our city’s central district would either fall past a point of no return or it would begin to grow.” In her final comment on the subject she said, “I believed at the time that it would grow and that’s why I made my commitment to purchase my home here.”
We had a great chat and I encouraged her to keep a watchful eye on the continuing improvements. She really is a great asset to our community. Without resign, I want to continue to hear more and more genuine positive comments about Mason City that are coming from the mouths of people who arrive here and are looking in from the outside.
