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Mae – Leaving City Life
“What?” Mina and I say in tandem. We can’t have heard that right.
“You heard me. I used up some money I’ve been saving to buy a farmstead in Sonoma County.”
Mina slams her phone on the table. “You can’t be serious.”
I give her a stern look. She may be surprised, but that’s no way to speak to her great-grandfather.
She seems to understand and backs down with a murmured apology.
But it’s not like I’m thrilled with this news, either.
“Grandpa, I can’t just up and leave my firm.” Not after all the hard work I’d put in to get there.
“Why not? I already sold my townhouse to cover the down payment and used some savings, so altogether I have a pretty small mortgage left.”
I can’t believe he’s only just now telling me this. How did he even manage to sell his house without me knowing? “Well…for one thing, we’re right in the middle of preparing for a huge case.”
“What? For that weasel, Mr. Scrappy something or other, who didn’t want to pay his taxes?”
“Lil’ Scrap,” Mina corrects him.
“Whatever.” Grandpa brushes off the name with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, that’s the case. If I do well, I could be promoted to partner.” It's the title I’ve been chasing after for the last five years.
“Okay, so what then? You work more than you do now? Sweetheart, your daughter will go off to college or whatever else she wants to do after high school in four short years. You know how quickly time passes by when it comes to your kids.”
He makes a good point there. “But the money, Grandpa.”
“You can always make more money. What you can’t ever get more of is time…. time with your family.”
Darn. Grandpa makes another great point. Still, there’s no guarantee that this farm idea won’t be a money pit. And if that happens, we’ll all be sorry I quit my job.
“So, what does the place look like?” I ask. I can’t believe I’m even entertaining the idea.
“Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“Okay…do you have any pictures?”
“No, but I figured you could find some on that computer of yours.” He takes a crinkled piece of paper from his worse-for-wear wallet and hands it to me. “The address is 2034 Lily Lane, Santa Rosa, California.”
Mina types that into her phone and shows me.
“Wow, grandpa. I have to give it to you. This farm is really beautiful,” I say. And it is. All rolling green hills and baby blue sky. “But why can’t you just live there alone? Without us.”
“Mae, I’m eighty-five. I can’t manage and run a large plot of land alone. I have a hard enough time getting out of a dang chair. Look at this.” He demonstrates and takes an exaggerated amount of time to get up.
“Okay, I get it. But this is a huge decision. We need to think about this before we just up and dramatically alter our lives.” Grandpa Bob might be retired, but Mina and I both have a life here.
“Why? I was going to be a doctor until my pops told me I should join the Army instead. Took me no time to change my mind.”
“That was different,” I protest.
“How so?”
“Well, you were what…seventeen? I’m thirty-two, with an established career and teenage daughter to consider.”
