A House With A Pear Tree

Jack and Jill had been living in their bungalow for almost 10 years now. Out of nowhere one day the landlord arrived and told them he wanted to sell the house so that he could retire early, he apologized for the inconvenience and left. They were left both speechless and motionless.

For days they walked around in a daze, the house slowly started turning into a mess. The dishes and laundry didn't get done, the lawn left turn into a jungle, the dogs didn't get walked, their lives were turned upside down. So much to organize, clean, pack, give away, so much to consider. Moving expenses and deposits alone meant no holidays, no anything really, as every penny needed to be gathered and accounted for

Both Jack and Jill were optimists, they could always find good in a situation, so instead of letting this news chip away at their sanity, they decided to make a list. This was a chance to start again, to fix the shortfalls of their current house and get something better.

Jill wanted a bigger room for their son, a bath, and a spare room for Jack to use as an office. Jack just wanted a shed and to be tucked away in the countryside. Reasonable requests one would imagine.

10 years or even 5 years ago this wouldn't have seemed unreasonable, but in today's environment, the scene was very different. Zoning of lands meant there was less housing being built. After a year and a half of the world been brought to a standstill, people have started moving from the cities to the countryside. But despite knowing that, armed with a deposit and work and landlord references they set out to find a place. A month passed and they hadn't seen a single suitable property. After speaking to dozens of people they came to the realization that they were going to have to settle for less. But how much less, one would wonder. Should Jack not have his shed? Should they play musical chairs with the rooms to accommodate this new, working from home, lifestyle which we've all been landed with during the pandemic?

Jack and Jill always believed that renting allowed them to be mobile, without a large mortgage over their head tying them down. 10 years on their needs had changed. They were older and more settled. They just wanted the space to have their hobbies and live in harmony. Instead, they were facing in to a future unsuitable for their needs.

There's a case to be made for putting down roots! All of a sudden, in their early 40's the beautiful life they had crafted for themselves was pulled from under their feet. Jill would have to change jobs, her son schools, they would have to make new friends, find new doctors, dentists and vets, this disruption would take years out of their lives, only, eventually, to be asked to do it again by the next landlord that wanted to retire early again.

Jill decided to set her heart on owning a house with a pear tree, planting it and watching it grow and bear fruit. She now wanted to give her son a spot where he could go after she had passed and think of her standing under the tree, picking the pears and making pear tarts. A place where the very meaning of the word 'home' isn't constantly in jeopardy.

So Jill, being the optimist that she is decided to start writing. She wrote about her dreams in the hope that the universe would provide her heart's deepest needs, and to warn you, that really we don't understand the true meaning of the word 'home' until it's taken away from us. A house you own will never tie you down if what you're trying to create is a home! Been dependant on other people is what ties you down. Jack and Jill couldn't blame their landlord, for just like them, he too had a dream!