I walked into the downstairs garage over the weekend. I was in a hurry to get a bag of rice from down there and when I turned the corner and ran into these guys, I about had a stroke. Chad had gone duck hunting that morning and then hung his waders up to dry. His friend had borrowed Chad’s second pair and that’s why there are two pairs hanging there. This is an old post from my blog that I’ve copied and pasted here. Because this picture reminds me of this story that happened some time in 2001.
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This is so totally not quilt related and it’s long but it’s kinda . . weird!
A couple of years before Chad was fixing to start high school in Kentucky, we felt that Daviess County High School (Kentucky) was too large. It had about 2,000 students at the time. We decided to move to Santa Claus, Indiana. It was 30 something miles from Owensboro so Vince would have continued with his same job. The whole town of Santa Claus is built around the holiday theme. It would have been a really fun place to live. Holiday World is there and it’s almost always voted the best family theme park.
But, we had been looking at houses, had found a couple we liked and never could get the deal done. They seem to have a lot of foundation problems there and on 2 or 3 occasions, we got down to the home inspection and found problems with the basement.
Anyway, there was this one house that looked so nice from the road. I can’t remember all the details but the whole subdivision, which is basically the whole town, is built around several lakes. All the streets have Christmas type names. This house was on Candy Cane Lane and it looked kinda rustic, had some wood and stone and we liked the outside a lot. It had a great view of one of the lakes. I think this particular house had been in foreclosure and when we asked the realtor about it, she said it needed a good bit of work . . which was an understatement! But, to Mr. Bargain Hunter, it sounded like a great deal. We looked at it several times and were seriously considering making an offer. We had been dealing with this realtor long enough that I felt she was our friend. So, we’re out in the garage, Vince is getting into the attic and the realtor was saying something about the owner and kept saying “she this” and “she that”. Being the nosey rosie that I am, I asked if she was not married. Here’s the conversation.
Me: Was she not married?
Realtor: She was.
Me: They got divorced? (starting to wonder why she was being so evasive)
Realtor: He died.
Me: Not in this house???
Realtor: Yes, in this house.
Me: How? (remember . . we’re standing in the garage and Vince is in the attic by now – stairs to the attic are in the garage)
Realtor: He committed suicide.
Me: Where?
Realtor: In the garage! (this is where we’re standing!)
Me: VINCE! Let’s go!
I know that wouldn’t bother some people but it bothered me. It bothered me more that the realtor hadn’t told us and would not have told us. Even though she was not bound by law to disclose it, and may well have been bound by law not to disclose it, that was such a small town and she knew we were going to find out. Seems that it is something that should be disclosed and then the prospective owner can decide if it is a problem for them or not. I would have thought of that man every time I opened the garage door.
By the way, we stayed in Daviess County and we were 100% happy with Daviess County High. I don’t think we could have been happier anywhere. Things just work out the way they’re supposed to . . despite our efforts to do what WE think is right!
CJ says
Mmm… I may be remembering it wrong, but I think the realtor WAS bound to tell you that someone committed suicide in the house.
If I’d seen those waders hanging there like that I’d have had a heart attack on the spot. LOL
dawn says
I would totally have done the same thing! When I was six we lived in a house where a woman committed suicide. My parents didn’t find out til one of the neighbors told them. As we had a year long lease it was to late to move out. The neighbors told my parents she had killed herself in what was my bedroom. I remember I had some of the worst nightmares in that house. I still remember a couple of them to this day. It was awful. Many times I had to sleep in my parents room cause I was so scared in there. Annnnnnnnnnnnd I didn’t find out the story til I was much older. Weird.
Ya did the right thing by getting outta dodge Ms. Judy!!
dawn
MamaK says
We got married in 1979–right during a big oil boom here and it was hard finding a place to live. The only thing we could find was a 10×55 1959 trailer that was a dump, but we were young and decided it was better than living with the in-laws.
I lived there about 3 months before I found out that somebody had died in it…from natural causes (I think it was a gas leak)…and took me about a month to find some place else to live!
Howdy says
LOL – yeah it would be something you’d want to know about.
I hear you when you say things work out the way they are suppose to… we felt that way about this old Stone House we bought this year. When the negotiations got difficult we tried to end it and let the sellers out… but they refused to stop and finally met our needs for documentation of oil tank and asbestos removal. We love our old house – all 152 years of it. I often wonder about the original owners – the house was built as the summer house to a farm in 1856.
I’m about convinced that we do have a ghost… nothing malicious – just noises we can’t explain… just makes ya go – hmmmm?
Carolyn Thomas says
Yeah, the waders would have scared my out of several pounds. But at least he hung them up to dry instead of leaving them in a heap expecting someone else to do it. 🙂
Traci says
I completely understand you desire to leave.
I currently live in the house where my grandfather died…that doesn’t bother me at all. Couldn’t live in a house where I knew a suicide or murder was commited…no way!!!
Hugs,
Traci