A TALE OF THREE HOUSES AND A BOY 

On a short street, in an older neighborhood, there are three houses and a boy. The neighborhood where these houses are located is almost 70 years old.  The boy is almost 14.

House #1 was bought by a young couple when it was merely a foundation.  The young couple raised three children in house #1.  It was a happy time for the family and the house.

Time passed and the children grew up and moved away.  Eventually, the couple sold house #1 and moved to a bigger house in a different town.  Years passed.  The couple grew older.  The man became ill and the wife became worn out caring for him.  

As his illness progressed, the man became confused and unhappy.   He kept insisting he wanted to go home.  Here is where House #2 becomes part of this tale.

House #2 is right next door to House #1.  It is owned by another young couple. The daughter who grew up in House #1 and her husband.   They have two sons.  The older son marries and has a son, the boy in this tale.  Unfortunately, the marriage doesn't last so the boy and his mother move into House #2 with his grandparents.

But it is a small house, and the boy is growing, so when another house on the short street comes up for sale the grandparents buy it.  House #3 is in bad shape, so the grandparents renovate it and rent it to the mother and their grandson.  The boy is very happy.  Now he has two houses to call home.

Meanwhile the daughter's parents are struggling, her father is very sick and her mother needs help caring for him, but they live too far away for day-to-day help.  Amazingly, House #1 is suddenly put up for sale.  The old couple buy it, but it needs a lot of work to make it accessible for them.

Again, the daughter and her husband take on the job of renovating a second house on their short street.  They turn House #1 into a cozy home for the parents.  Not only cozy but fitted out with everything a disabled person needs.  So, the old couple move into House #1 again.  The father is very happy.  He sits at the picture window every day and waves at everyone.  Finally, he is home again.

His wife is happy too. She has her daughter and son in law living right next door in House #2.  They take on part of the burden of caring for her husband and make his final months joyful.

The boy is overjoyed.  He loves his great grandparents very much. He now has three houses he calls home. He runs in and out of House #1 and gives his great grandparents much pleasure.

Time goes by and his great grandfather dies.  He dies in his own bed surrounded by his family.  The boy experiences his first loss of someone he loved but sees how it is the natural order of things.  He comforts his great grandmother and becomes very protective of her.

Each house has a unique story, but they are tied together by the boy and the families who love him.  Not all children are lucky enough to know their grandparents well and certainly not their great grandparents.  This boy not only knows them but is living with them and learning life's lessons daily.

That is the tale of the three houses and the boy.