It certainly felt like early Fall when I arrived at the office this morning. With the exception of several hot weeks this summer, we really didn’t have much of an old fashioned one. I still remember all those times at the beginning of the school year when the classrooms were exceptionally warm due to the late August and first part of September temperatures. It wasn’t the best way to get a school year started with cranky students and teachers whose moods were altered by stiflingly hot and humid classrooms.
My public open house at 422 S. Tennessee Place was much more of a success than I expected to where there were people coming and going nearly the entire time. Whenever I show it, I’m all the more impressed with the design of its bathroom. It has a separate tub along with a step-in shower which is highly unusual for lower priced condominiums. What surprises me the most is that there’ve not been more younger people looking at it since it’s now priced below 100K. Any up-scale apartment rental would be far more than what one’s payment would be for this unit. I also enjoy the covered upper deck which offers more privacy. Another attractive feature is that there are only four units in the building which means less people coming and going, and likely less friction between owners.
I received a call from someone this afternoon which triggered a bit of anger withing when telling me he wasn’t going to sell a book which he’d already agreed to sell me for a more than fair price. I was supposed to pick it up today, but after his more thorough “inspection”, he felt it to be priceless. All I could do was to hold my tongue and remain civil. Unbeknownst to him, I’ll now go out of my way to avoid him as well and remain of the opinion that if he should offer it to me again for the same price, I’ll not take it even if he chose to give it to me. Since very young, I’ve always be of the hard and fast mindset of people sticking to their word. I now know he’s a very suspicious and highly un-trusting person. I remember well the old saying that goes, “Highly distrusting people are the ones that can’t be trusted.” I’ve encountered them all my life along with making sure to remain at a comfortable distance.
Now for my story of yesterday. Two of my long-time clients stopped by my office yesterday for a visit, and when they walked in I said, “Who turned on Fall’s switch?” His wife then replied, “This is the first time in my life I’ve had to wear winter clothes on my birthday.” I was shocked to the point of saying, “Today is really your birthday?” “Yes, and that’s why I’ve taken the day off.” They then followed me into my office and made themselves comfortable. I looked at her husband and said, “Do you mind if I give something personal to your wife for her birthday?” Since I’ve known them for a long time he said, “Of course not.” I then got up from my desk and walked back to a cabinet and took an envelope containing the Peridot ring I purchased for my mother so very many years ago which came back to me because she insisted that after she passed, all items given to her by her children were to be given back.
For well over a year I’ve been trying to think of some woman with an August birthday whom I would consider worthy of being gifted that ring. I really wanted it to go to an August birthday woman because Peridot is August’s birthstone. What shocked me the most is that my client arrived at the office on the exact day of my mother’s birthday. I took the ring out of the envelope and handed it to my client and said, “Happy Birthday from my mother and me.” She looked at it and I could see her eyes welling up with tears. “I can’t take this beautiful ring.” she exclaimed. By then I was also teary-eyed and replied, “I insist because I’m all the more convinced there was some unexplainable reason you arrived her today and completely without reason you told me it was your birthday.”
As they were walking out, she turned and hugged me while thanking me yet again for her birthday gift. I walked back into my office and said to myself, “Yes, today’s happenstance was meant to be.”, as I today continue to have a very good feeling about it all. Yes, that Peridot ring now has a new owner and happy to be out of that envelope which has been in darkness for far too long. I’m sure it’s now back to its job of playing with light.
