2021 was a year of APPRECIATION and GROWTH. Personally, the support of friends and relatives carried me and my family through times of sickness and loss. Professionally, loyal clients, supportive colleagues, and a great deal of perseverance have helped us overcome 2021’s challenges. I am especially grateful for all the support my family and I received during the early months of 2021—I won’t soon forget the kindness shown us during those trying, sorrowful months.
For Christmas 2020, Josh, Olivia, her boyfriend, Matt, and I traveled to Houston to enjoy the holidays with Abuela. She had been making progress with her chemo treatment, and we had a glimmer of hope that her metastatic cancer would go into remission. We spent many wonderful days at Abuela’s farm caring for her horses, chickens, pigs, cats, and dogs, and amidst hospital visits we met with family. We also visited the beach, experiencing its winter serenity. There was a certain indescribable beauty about the contrast of the feathery, silver-gray sky against the calm, bluish-gray sea. In the face of such a vast and uncontrollable spectacle as the sea and the sky reaching for each other, I felt centered. Realizing that the God who directed the sea and the sky also held me and Abuela in His hands gave me peace. He was in control, and we were going to be ok.
Abuela had been fighting metastatic cancer since June 2018. She had had several surgical procedures and various rounds of chemo and radiation treatments. While she never went into “remission,” her body would respond to the treatments for months at a time, giving us hope that she would recover. Around Christmas 2020 and New Years, she alternated between periods of energy and weakness, but the time was memorable. She laughed and was her usual, jovial self, cracking jokes with my brother, aunt, and the children. She went outside and watched the fireworks, and she took in the sight of her snow-covered yard, a real treat for any Texan.
Our joy was short-lived. A few days after we returned to the DMV area, my mother was hospitalized. She had had an obstruction and needed surgery (if she could survive it). We were all going a million miles an hour in every direction when the news came in. The children were preparing to go back to college and high school. I had four families—including one relocating from Hawaii and one coming in from Mexico—entering the market to buy their first home, and I had a couple of families entering the market to sell. When we got the news, though, the world just stopped.
I returned to Houston as soon as I could and found that things were worse than I thought. My mother had been released to hospice care. Had she gone to an institution, we would not have had access to her due to the covid restrictions in place at that time. Instead, we opted to have hospice care at home, so we could check on her daily. Her condition was precarious. Over the next three weeks, my brother and I took turns taking care of Abuela between the nurses’ visits. Abuela grew weaker and weaker with periods of hallucinations and delusions in which she had conversations with my deceased dad and with my deceased grandparents. She spoke with Jesus. Towards the end of January, she grew less responsive to the external world with brief periods of lucidity that lasted only a few minutes at a time. At this point her conversations were all with Jesus. She had accepted her situation; she was ready. She kept asking what date it was or what time it was, and she insisted again and again that she was ready to go home with Jesus. In the waning hours of February 4th surrounded by loved ones, Abuela peacefully took her last breath in her home, on her bed, on her own terms. 2 Timothy 4:7 (I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race. I have kept the faith).
In the last month of Abuela’s life, I got to experience an amazing display of love for my mother. We used to talk weekly or even daily, so I knew a lot of what she did for her church, her community, and the strangers-in-need she encountered. However, I really did not know the extent of her sacrifices until those last weeks of her life. Droves of people from all over the world called or visited to show their gratitude for all Abuela had done for them and to pay their respects. I was amazed at the number of people who took a moment with her before she passed, and through their stories, I heard of the tremendous positive impact she had had on others. My mother, Mami, Abuela as she was known in Houston, was dearly loved and would be sorely missed.
After my mother passed away, my brother and I had much to do as we began to process the pain and grief we felt. Of course, there was the funeral to prepare, but we also had to rescue her pets, sell her farm animals, update all of her financial statements, and generally put her affairs in legal order. We had done a great deal of leg work already—or, so we thought, but the mountain of work after she passed away was quite consuming. Covid restrictions and unexpected severe weather exacerbated everything, causing court closures, limiting available personnel, and interfering with everything in between. It was overwhelming and exhausting.
While my brother and I wrestled with these things on the Houston front, I had other matters to worry about back home. Thankfully, my children were not so little anymore, so my youngest, an 18 year old senior in high school, stayed home with limited supervision. Family front secured. At work, I had the support of my brokerage and especially of the amazing Anastasia Roze. For 6 weeks, she cared for my clients, taking them on showings up and down the DMV corridor, writing contracts, and helping to negotiate them. My clients were sweet and supportive, too, even donating money to get me flowers. Anastasia helped with that, too. Having Anastasia’s support allowed me to focus my attention and spend my time on properly mourning my mother, caring for my family, and handling all of the work involved with a person’s passing. I am eternally grateful for Anastasia’s kindness during this most trying and difficult time, and I’m not sure I can ever fully express my gratitude for all she did for me.
Back in Houston, as we were finalizing the details of my mother’s funeral, the weather decided to throw a historic tantrum. Texas was hit with its worst winter storm ever. In my 20 years living in Texas, I had endured tornadoes, hurricanes, and hailstorms, but I could not recall ever experiencing a winter storm of that magnitude and severity. In a matter of hours, record low temperatures and a nasty combination of ice, sleet, and snow crippled Houston. For many, survival was the name of the game. Everywhere you went families were without power and running water. There was limited access to everything. Stores had been wiped cleaned by those who could make it. Cars were stranded left and right. People were freezing in their homes, in their cars, and in shelters. Pet shelters were overwhelmed with many animals freezing to death in their carriers. It was hard to witness the suffering around me while experiencing the pain from Abuela’s passing. I never thought I would be thankful my mother had passed away, but I wondered if she would have survived that storm. What would have happened if she had been alive and needed care? How would my brother and I feel? Texas was submerged in despair with little hope of stability anytime soon. In the aftermath of the ice storm, my mother had to be buried. The funeral home lost power, and the plumbing had burst. Abuela’s funeral was rushed, and her wake was cut short. Only a few relatives and friends were able to be come. There wasn’t much to be done, as I couldn’t spare any more time away from work, so we just made the best of the situation. Immediately upon my mother’s burial, I left Houston with my son, Joshua. In an unexpected twist, however, we found ourselves traveling with 11 dogs in tow: 3 adult dogs, including a mama who had just had a litter of 8 pups a few days before.
Here was another stressful and precarious situation. I could not leave Cossette, Sammy “Pooh Bear,” Princess, or her puppies behind. I did not know how long it would take for things to get back to normal in Texas, and I no longer had a pet sitter in Houston. Unfortunately, my aunt was hospitalized shortly after my mother’s passing, and my uncle was heading to hospice care. My brother couldn’t care for them, so I had no choice but to take them with me. The poor things were pretty stressed out. The multiple changes in housing, drastic weather, and mom passing away had been hard on them, but we made it through the 20-hour road trip together.
Once we arrived in the DMV a whole new adventure began. I converted my guest room into a puppy ward and housed Princess and her babies there until the puppies had grown enough to be adopted. My son, Jonathan, and I took turns caring for the pups, Princess, Sammy, and Cosette. We got them settled with us and started promoting them to our friends until all of the pups and dogs had been adopted. Those were a crazy 2 months, but by the end of April, all puppies and dogs had found new homes. Well, so we thought. Unfortunately, two puppies died, but friends, clients, and colleagues adopted Cossette and the remaining six puppies. Sammy and Princess played musical chairs with three adopting families, but for various reasons, none of the 3 families could keep either of them. I gave up trying: Sammy and Princess were staying with us.
The adventures did not stop there. When I came home with Princess, Sammy, Cossette, and the pups, I also had to introduce my two dogs and two cats to them. For a minute there, we were the definition of a three-ring circus! Honestly, our family should have had a spot in the encyclopedia entry, for crying out loud! My dogs, Dasha and Shadow, were curious about the puppies but scared of the three big dogs. Princess was super-protective of her pups. Sammy and Cossette just wanted to explore their new home: they kept jumping the fence and trying to go to the nearby woods. A schedule was set for walks, individual time with each of them, and play time with each other. After a few months of our walking routine, Dasha, the smallest dog at home, tried to imitate Sammy’s antics when we went for walks. Olivia and I couldn’t stop laughing. Sammy and Shadow have developed a loving relationship, and Princess, Dasha and Shadow have learned to co-exist. They all now share my bed, and I need to get their permission to sleep in it!
That was the dogs. The cats were and have been a different ball game. Marble just hisses at everyone and sets all dogs—big and small—straight. LokiPoki, is, well, LokiPoki. He is moody and silly. At any given moment, he might hiss at you, swat you, or prank you. Sammy fears LokiPoki, while Dasha and Shadow love to play with LokiPoki. Princess and LokiPoki have a sort of mutual respect each other.
As the months passed, we all gradually made peace with Abuela’s passing. It hurts that she is gone, and we miss her terribly. We often find ourselves reminiscing about the things she did, the food she cooked, and the game she loved to play above all else: Monopoly. She had an incredibly unique way of playing it, too. She cheated, but she did so with a sort of boldness and feigned innocence that you couldn’t help but laugh with her at her own antics! Oh, playing Monopoly with Abuela was a memorable experience.
From March through September work moved at a fast pace, and as soon as I got home, I plunged in at full speed. Even on the drive home I was negotiating a contract for my buyers from Mexico and one for my buyers from Hawaii while talking to my sellers, who patiently waited for me to return. My buyers finally had their offers accepted, and my team and I prepared homes to enter the market. Contractors struggled to find the necessary material to renovate properties or repair homes, but we handled every challenge with tremendous dedication, and professionalism.
Work occupied so much of my time and energy that I had no opportunity to get depressed, though I cried often and missed my mom badly. I used to call my mom almost daily to talk about work, to tell her about all my antics, and to describe the houses I was selling or the repairs that were been done. I looked forward to talking to her. At first, I called her daily and left messages for her. Then, one horrible day it dawned on me that she was never going to call back. Processing that sobering thought was a lot harder than I imagined. I found myself just crying and crying. I decided to start journaling and going to Adoration in hopes of finding healing for my broken heart. As the summer progressed, my young adults came home from college, and new challenges presented themselves. I found my footing, and I was able to keep moving forward with and for the other people in my life, my friends and family. I miss my mom terribly. I still cry occasionally for her, but I am more aware that she has passed away. I focus on and cling to her beautiful memory.
The summer turned into fall, and before I knew it, it was Christmas. Time was just flying. During the fall season, the real estate market kept moving strong but with a little bit of a pause. I was able to take some much-needed time off to just catch my breath. I used that time to prepare for the upcoming holiday season and a client appreciation party I wanted to host. I penned down my plans, but life happened again!
In the summer I divided my huge master bedroom into two smaller, more manageable rooms. The initial plan was to have my new room be my new office. However, I realized Jonathan needed a bigger room, so he moved into the new room, instead. I took his old room as my new office, and all was well. It took planning and re-arranging, but we got it done.
Just as we thought we could relax, I decided I had to close out my storage unit. The storage company kept raising its monthly fees and cutting back the access hours. At one point I lost 8 hours of access/day and the fee went up $80. That was enough for me. I prepared to turn the storage units in, and I ordered a storage unit to be set up in my backyard. The storage unit arrived several weeks later than expected. Now, my contractor had another project ahead of mine, so I needed to wait. In the meantime, my living room, office, and guest room began to serve as storage units. Between contractor delays, health issues, and the weather, my home essentially become more storage unit than functional living space. This less-than-ideal situation lasted some 6 weeks. Fortunately, it was just my son, the pets, and me at home, and we are veterans at weathering crazy situations. If nothing else, we were learning to be resilient and to have an appreciation for the blessings we enjoy. Nevertheless, I was frustrated at the lack of control I had over the situation.
Realizing that grumbling about things out of my hand would not get me far, I decided that I “needed” a project I could “control.” So, I decided to finally paint my laundry room. I had been saying for years that I wanted to change its color, but for one reason or another, I had always prioritized other projects. Well, what was I waiting for? Here was something that needed to get done, and I could do something about it! I started preparing a list of the materials I needed, and I went to The Home Depot. I purchased all needed materials and developed a plan. Early the next morning, I began preparing the laundry room. I cleared the walls, removed the cleaning products, taped the door frames, and we began to move the washer and drier out of the way. As soon as I moved the drier, I heard a crunching noise that just paralyzed me. I took a step to the side, heard more scary noises coming from under my shoes, and felt the ground slope downward. I had discovered a bigger problem than an ugly-colored laundry room. My son and I moved very slowly away from the laundry room floor—I was afraid I was going to fall in. Once we were in a safe place, I lifted part of the old floor and saw that it was crumbling, confirming what I already knew. It was very evident that the floor was not level, that there was water damage which had been present for who knows how long, and that the floorboards, beams, and drywall were in terrible shape.
I immediately called Isabel Arias from S&I Construction. I relayed to her all that had happened, and she and her husband, Santos, came by the same day. Santos evaluated the damage and produced a plan and a timeframe when he can come to repair all the damage. It was dependent on finding the necessary materials at Home Depot. We were still not sure what had caused the damage, but we assumed that the hot water heater, the washer, or both were to blame. However, the night before Santos was scheduled to begin, we happened to turn on the shower located behind the laundry room and spilled water everywhere. We discovered the tub had been leaking for YEARS without our knowledge. We updated Santos, who in turn updated his repair plans. While we discussed the laundry room floor getting repaired, he explained that there will be a substantial gap between the laundry room and the kitchen floors. Well, I said to myself, I do not need more drama, and I do not need help tripping! So, Santos repaired and tiled the floors in the laundry room and the kitchen. The dark, ugly, brown laundry room and dark gray kitchen floors were replaced with a beautiful cream tile. Both rooms now look amazing, and the kitchen looks bigger and beautiful. I had peace of mind, and I finally painted the laundry room a pretty spring green.
The laundry room and kitchen projects are done, and we have begun to organize things there. The storage shed has been constructed and most of its contents moved into it. I have started to organize it, regaining my living room and parts of my guest room and office. It feels nice to be able to walk through my living room, much less sit comfortably on my couch. It brings a little sanity to the home. We were even able to put up our Christmas tree.
We ended the year with several other projects left unfinished. Some of the projects were started as long ago as 2019 during the covid closures. They require a great deal of time and materials, neither of which are always available, but Jon and I work on them as we can. Hopefully, by this summer, the backyard will be completely landscaped. I can’t wait to see my crepe myrtles and my beloved roses all blooming. I love to make flower arrangements with them to place around the house or to give away. Growing roses, and making flower arrangements reminds me of my mother.
Little by little, the pets gradually learn to live peacefully with each other. Jon does his best to keep up with all my projects, and I am learning to delegate. I am always amazed at the need to relearn some of the life lessons that I have helped teach others, but I supposed that is a part of life. Thus, as I begin 2022, I remind myself that it is ok to cry and to be patient with myself. I remind myself to embrace life’s challenges, to enjoy the present, and to laugh often.
THANK YOU to all my clients for all their support, loyalty, and vote of confidence.
THANK YOU to all my REMAX Executives family, especially Anastasia Roze, and Dan Williams. The support I have received is invaluable. Sherry Rahnama, REMAX Executives broker, I am so grateful to have you as a friend, colleague, and broker.
THANK YOU to all my friends who always encourage me, and constantly offer prayers for me, my work, and my family. Your support is invaluable
THANK YOU to my four young adults for their love, support, and strength throughout the years. You make all challenges worth fighting for and achievements the best reward to be attained.
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