St. Joseph
Today is Father’s Day, a day dedicated to all dads.
I’m proud to say I’m a dad, to the greatest daughter in the world, Kalena. I’m also happy to say I’m engaged to a wonderful woman, Michelle Gukeisen.
In three short days, I will be moving into our new family home on Dubuque’s south side. The new house may not have happened without the help of another father.
My current house is a split foyer. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of split foyer homes in Dubuque. It seems to be the most popular style. So, when I put my house on the market in March, I knew there was competition out there.
I take care of my living space, and I was assured given some of the amenities my house had, a remodeled downstairs bathroom, a four-season room, a nice yard, it would sell with no problem. We had a record number of showings, but after one week, no offers. After two weeks, no offers. After three weeks, still no offers.
Three weeks is a small amount of time in the realty world, but to me, it seemed like an agonizing forever. I felt the need to do something more. On the morning of May 16, I buried a small St. Joseph statue in my front yard, per the instructions, and recited the daily prayer. Seven hours later, I had an offer on my house from someone who wasn’t even on the interested party radar. Coincidence?
I don’t consider myself overly religious, but if spending $5 to put a small statue of St. Joseph in my yard was an option to sell my house faster, I wasn’t going to pass it up.
When you sell your home, the statue is supposed to come with you. St. Joseph is to be displayed prominently in your new home. A few days ago, I dug him up to pack him away for the trip. His head had broken off. A couple days later, a couple hiccups arose that stood in the way of selling my home. Coincidence?
Those issues were resolved, and this dad will be closing on his new house later this week. Happy Father’s Day to me. And thank you to another father, St. Joseph. Appreciate it.
WINTER WONDERS 