Neighborhood newcomers look forward to settling in

Afternoon sun splashed through oversized kitchen and living room windows. I lingered near a sliding door to the deck that within days would be ours, but for now still held plastic deck chairs and an ash tray with stale butts that belonged to the couple selling us their house.

Yep, it’s true. Molly and I found a place to make our own! We hadn’t yet seen it in the late afternoon and I was dazzled by the sunshiney main room.

The woman, who made it a point to always be at the house when we were around, whether for the inspection or, on this day, the final walk through, chatted profusely, making it hard for us to break away and check over the house.

I think she said something about the man next door needing help mowing his lawn and that our son could make some cash if he wanted to.

Then she lowered her voice so slightly that it was nearly imperceptible and said, “We’ve talked to the neighbors and they all know.”

Oh great, I thought, there’s been a neighborhood meeting about the lesbians moving in. The next second, I upbraided myself for being overly sensitive about a harmless enough statement. “They all know” could mean simply, the neighbors were curious, we told them we finally sold the place and a couple with two kids is moving in.

The change in her voice, though, lingered with me. I had already found myself nervous when I pictured living in a new neighborhood. This was a commitment we were making. We would be establishing ourselves in a neighborhood, on a block, where people grew roots. If we didn’t get along with the neighbors, it’d be years of not getting along.

The next morning, we gathered with our real estate agent to sign the closing papers and Molly asked us both if we caught that statement the day before. Ah ha! I wasn’t the only one.

Myah, our Realtor, had been recommended to us by two different people and when we finally made the decision to meet with her, my fretting about not being able to afford a home melted away. She had ideas for various down payment plans, listened to our story about what we wanted from a house and always made me feel like I could ask questions.

This was my first time buying a house and I frequently asked Myah, “What happens next? Or, what is the protocol here?

It didn’t surprise me in the least that she, too, had noticed the peculiar comment about the neighbors. But true to what I had come to know as authentically Myah, she laughed cheerfully and said, “It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, whether we’re just being paranoid or whether she really meant the neighbors have been warned?”

Her cheerfulness made me realize it didn’t matter. Here I was, about to walk into a title company to buy an amazing 1963 rancher with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a deck, a two-car garage, even a laundry chute. And, an extra room to build our Lego city.

The neighbors will think what they want to think. But you can bet we’ll mow our lawn, hang Christmas lights, plant flowers in the spring, wave as the neighbor folk pass by or take in a garbage can if they’re gone for an extended time.

Regardless of our reception, we’ll be good stewards of the home and neighborhood we’ve been blessed to call our own.