I
enjoy baseball games, but I don't attend very many. In fact, only a
few games a year. I still like the ballpark. I think it is the fresh cut
grass, teamwork, strategy, and how individual players or the team
handles success or adversity.
As I 
was
thinking about baseball, I wondered if there is such a thing as a fast,
curve ball. I'll have to ask a baseball expert. A pitcher normally
either throws a fastball or a curve. I don't know a pitcher
alive who could combine both of those pitches into a single throw of a
smooth, white leather baseball, weighing by Major League Baseball
regulation 1.09 (MLB link) between 5.0 and 5.25 ounces.
was
thinking about baseball, I wondered if there is such a thing as a fast,
curve ball. I'll have to ask a baseball expert. A pitcher normally
either throws a fastball or a curve. I don't know a pitcher
alive who could combine both of those pitches into a single throw of a
smooth, white leather baseball, weighing by Major League Baseball
regulation 1.09 (MLB link) between 5.0 and 5.25 ounces.
Regardless,
a few days before Christmas, life threw our family one and it was a
doozy. As we were hanging up Christmas lights outside our home with our
kids riding their scooters and bicycles in our quiet culdesac, the fast
ball came at us awful fast and then suddenly curved across our home
plate and hit the catcher's mitt with a loud, "pop." About ten minutes
later, Theresa and I looked at each other and without saying a single
word, we both knew it 
was time to move. Our holiday priorities had suddenly changed. It was time to sell our home.
was time to move. Our holiday priorities had suddenly changed. It was time to sell our home.
And
we really like our home. As I stood in our backyard I thought about how
much I would miss it and our precious neighbors. Most of us had camped
out for our homes for about a week and I fondly recall our kids growing
up in it. I then thought momentarily, "I love this home. Should we
really move?" As the thought bounced around in my mind it suddenly
seemed weird. After all, love is the highest mark I can give anything
in the world. Sticks and concrete just don't seem to merit it. I
reevaluated my position and thought privately to myself, "Ray, it is
just a home." I then repeated it several times out loud. "It is just a
home."
 |
| Ryan, Raymond, Troy and Joey |
About
an hour later, we broke the news to our three boys, Troy, Raymond, and
Ryan. They were amazing. Questions came pouring out of their mouths the
way only young children can ask them. "Can we move to the Reserve
Apartments? That would be awesome! Can we move near our friends? Dad,
can we get a two story home with stairs?"
Then our eight year old son, Ryan popped the really big question. "Dad,
can we take our couch with us?" I had to smile as I reassured Ryan we
could keep our couch as well as each of them. At that moment and
several times since, I wondered why Ryan's first thoughts of moving
centered around an inexpensive brown, leather, MOR Furniture couch
which sits in our family room? Why the couch?
As we
began filling boxes, I recalled the countless number of people we have
helped to sell or buy homes for a wide variety of their own personal and
sometimes private reasons, which are a result of all the different
dynamics that leads someone to move. Some of the main reasons are job
transfers, military deployment, divorces, marriages, down-sizing or even
up-sizing. Life is like a nine inning baseball game and the only
consistent thing is there will be changes. I think what is important is
how you and your family personally chooses to deal with it.
 |
| Ryan Shay |
The more I pondered
the role of a home in someone's life I had to go back to the pure genius
of our eight year old little boy, named Ryan Shay. Kids are so honest
and they say such valuable things, if we just take the time to listen. I
kept wondering why was the very first thing Ryan blurted out was, "Can
we take our couch?"
None of our boys once
mentioned our swimming pool, jacuzzi, yard, our Culdesac, not the
basketball hoop, not the pool table, single level home or our square
footage. Their focus was more about twenty four square feet in our
family room. A place where we hang out eating popcorn, and I am known
to frequently fall asleep while watching the latest teen movie or the X
Factor. A place warm and safe where they feel love of family. It all
comes back to the darn couch. I determined our home does not define
us. It just protects us from the cold and provides a place to feed our
children.
 |
| The Couch |
We may buy a new home
or we may event rent for awhile. But we will keep our couch and all
three of our children. God did throw us a fast, curve ball. A pitch only
he could make. At the end of the game of life, this turn at bat will
most likely result in a simplification of our lives and reduction of our
expenses. A life changing event that may ultimately turn out to be a
blessing.
A note to our boy's
and many of our friends and clients who have bravely faced similar
challenges. The sunburned and overweight umpire may have raised his
big right thumb into the air and hollered, "You're Out!" And the crowd
has roared. We won't throw down our bats nor our helmets, but simply
flip them to the bat boy or girl and gather our gear from a fellow
teammate. We will all then slide on our old leather baseball mitts,
pull down our baseball caps and be sure to put on a broad smile as we
jog out for the next inning.
How anyone handles
adversity or success ultimately builds their character and is what makes
us who we are. Besides, we haven't even reached the seventh inning
stretch.
Ray & Theresa Shay
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