‘Tis the season, as they say, of gift giving and gift receiving. While I always appreciate those that are wrapped and under the tree, the longer I live, the more I appreciate the kind you can’t wrap.
The gifts that seem to endure are those that involve experiences, gestures of good will, laughs, and sometimes tears, arrivals, and sometimes departures.
This year, not unusually, all kinds of gifts are coming at me from all directions. Tidings of comfort and joy, and grateful for all of it!
Just to name a few …
Arrival
On December 6th, Ruth Ann Virginia Paine was born to my son William and his wife Kristin. A long-awaited, healthy, beautiful, soon-to-be-bouncing baby girl added to our kin! Happy parents, ready to take on the task. Grandparents, great aunts, and a host of cousins and friends ready with open arms. Joy all round!
Comings and Goings
At ground level in yet another busy year in real estate – hallelujah! – is a bunch of lively, interesting people who chose to work with me as buyers, sellers, or both. Clients come into my life for a while, and once we close, go along their way – but often not for good. Many this year have become my friends. And that’s a good thing!
Peace in the Marketplace
With the spike in interest rates over the summer, the market slowed down. The white-hot frenzy of the past two years has departed, cooling into a more balanced market – still active, but calmer and fairer. What a gift! Especially to buyers, but in reality, to all of us.
A Successful Election
The freedoms and prosperity so many of us enjoy in this country rest in large measure on free and fair elections. This fall, we went to the polls and did our duty. Our election system was reaffirmed, and the election deniers and conspiracy theorists were mostly sent packing. Our Union is not perfect, but it is still alive, and this is victory for all of us – regardless of who we voted for! A gift!
Boom Town
I’ve said it before, and I will no doubt say it again, we live in exciting times here in Nashville! I came here 46 years ago, to a sleepy, backward, medium-sized city without much going for it. But in recent years, we have stepped into the spotlight as a booming city – a city of consequence (bachelorettes aside) and I love it! Growth and opportunity abound all around us! Another gift!