06/02/2026
This story is very dear to my heart.
My father-in-law sold his childhood home. He was born in it. When he wrote letters home from Vietnam, that very living room is where his parents read his letters. During this process, I was able to get closer to him. We saw him about once a month, and he is a man of many stories. I didn’t think he was a man of many words until I really got to spend time with him.
Those moments are precious.
What is also precious is being in a transaction that is family. I sold his home as a real estate agent. A real estate transaction can be scary. It can be unknown. But the most important thing an agent can do is be patient. When it comes to family, sometimes that requires even more patience and listening. Rollie wanted a different life. He wanted to have more stories. At 75, he decided to sell the home and buy an RV. I had my eye on one in Fort Myers for him. We kept watching it.
So Ken, myself, and Rollie flew down to Florida to just “look at the RV.” It worked out.
Grandpa wrote a check, and we were off!!! This process might have taken about a year, but for Rollie, it was decades of “Should I do this? Can I do this?” With help from family, it was possible.What do I think about depreciating assets? Sometimes you have to live a little, and those memories are something you can’t take back once your loved ones are gone. Rollie had plans of leaving many years ago, and the death of friends and family made it feel impossible by himself.
I am so grateful for my husband, who has been teaching him everything about the RV. We already broke the steps, left the sink on, and folded the RV, but we’re here.
As I write this, we are traveling back to Minnesota. Grandpa is in the front seat, Ken is driving, and I am sitting on the dinette. It’s important when your family needs help making their dreams come true that you help them. Say congrats to Rollie’s new chapter and his 2018 Thor Outlaw Toy Hauler!!!