Bombshell

Yesterday wasn't great to say the least. My mom went out to get the mail, she comes back in with a note from one of our landlords saying I'm going to sell the house. Now this might not sound like a big deal, but it was. We had previously made a deal with them, that they were not to list the house until the summer after I graduated. Well this obviously didn't phase them as they were forcing us into thinking of ourselves being homeless. My mom and I sat in the kitchen while she was on the phone talking to the only sympathetic landlords. They only said, "We'll try". That means pretty much nothing, "they'll try". Well we were both panic stricken, trying to think what we were going to do, thinking of how we were going to have to get rid of stuff since we probably couldn't afford a moving truck...problem after problem after problem. I have lived in this house my entire life, my mom for 20 years. So its only normal to be upset in this situation. Through the afternoon, I was thinking about where we would end up, about the house possibly getting demolished if a business bought it. These thoughts only brought tears to my eyes. And despite the efforts of my friends, I was still feeling helpless and miserable. Who wouldn't in that situation? I ended up at my friends' yard sale where I had an hour before put my bike up to be bought, I was trying to initiate the whole "getting rid of stuff"also thinking I could get a good price for it. While sitting there I could only think those sad thoughts, and when someone was offering to buy my bike, I decided I couldn't sell. I also figured that I ought to get back to my mom, she had to of needed me. So I biked the 3 blocks back, and there pulls up my neighbor(our house is a 3 unit living space, a studio which is his house, a basement, and the central area of the house which is our area). We start talking about the landlords letter, he precedes to tell me not to worry. This confuses me because of our situation. He says that our house won't sell because of the crappy condition it is in, admittedly he's right. The plumbing, the foundation, the wiring for the electricity...You name it, it more than likely needs fixing. This whole house would cost anyone too much to fix and its not zoned for a business thank god. This is the only time since it started that I was glad the economy is in the shape it is! My neighbor said that they'd be lucky to sell this house in 5 years, they're so greedy that they won't even take fair market value which is a little over 260,000, my great uncle 8 years ago offered that amount to buy the lot and he was going to pay in cash. They didn't accept. Anyway, after talking about the housing market and the house that is now titled thanks to our neighbor "Our piece of shit", our minds were put at ease. The house isn't going to sell for a while, so I'm safe for now. But since I'm looking at moving out of the house that I grew up in, I still feel saddened. I knew it had to happen eventually, and I'm aware of its condition, but after 18 years you tend to get attached. But I get to enjoy my last year with this house. My biggest hope is that a business won't buy it when the economy is back up. My opinion of this is that homes should stay exactly that, I know there is no stopping progress, but I would like to come back 20 years from now and see it still standing, being able to say that that was the house I grew up in. As opposed to the alternative of staring a another dog and cat grooming place or a travel agency. I don't mind stopping development if it keeps my best memories intact.