I had to convince my wife that this was the house for us. She liked modern architecture with open floor plans and this house was a typical colonial. But, it had the right number of bedrooms, the space we needed to expand our little family, and was at the very top of our price range, and had all of our school first choices! It was very well kept and would make a wonderful home for us.
I remember our final walk-through before closing; we met the seller and his son, an English teacher at Lane Tech High School in Chicago (He later became my colleague and friend when we hired him to teach at his alma mater). The seller showed us where everything was and how they worked. He was gracious and helpful. We were overwhelmed and a little frightened. We had struggled to sell our old home. We had to move in the summer because since we were educators, moving during the school year was unthinkable.
We both spent way too many hours at school. My average day was eleven or twelve hours and my wife could compete with that many times during the year. So a shorter commune would be a good thing, even if it was just turning a seven-minute drive into a five-minute walk.
We were already used to teaching and working in the same community. We tried to be graceful at the grocery store when parents wanted to do business. “We’re off duty,” we’d demur. “I can’t remember the specifics, call me at school,” I’d reply. Our students were startled when they saw us around town. High school students still don’t really believe that their teachers have lives outside of the classroom. Well, this new house would practically be living in a file cabinet drawer, just bigger.
A lot bigger. Our new house was much larger than the little one we had moved into after we got married. We loved our first house, but if we were going to have another child, we needed more space. When one of my former students found out where we were moving, he said to me, “Oh, Mr. Hirsch, you’re not the North Trail type.”
He couldn’t explain to me what the North Trail type was and, as we got to know our neighbors, we couldn’t either. We already met several sets of neighbors because we taught their children. Yet, our neighbors immediately across the street never came out or said hello or acknowledged us ever – not even when they moved. Others were very warm and came over and introduced themselves.
Within a few months, there were several other new families nearby and our two-year-old made new friends as we all walked to school together: she went to the school daycare and preschool! We shared the great commute.
After a year or two, I started a neighborhood newsletter. This was when a newsletter meant photocopies, envelopes, and hand distribution. At almost the same time, a neighbor initiated a renaissance of the homeowners association and we combined our efforts. While there had been a homeowners association, it had gone fallow. Now there was only a person paying landscapers to keep the common areas from looking too shabby from a checking account that was rapidly being depleted.
So I took on the role of secretary in those pre-email days and we recruited a few others to help us. Most of those folks are still working together, but that is going to change soon. We had little kids, all of whom are in college or out of college.
Now, we are empty nesters. The two of us live by ourselves in this house. When we retired, the most common question was, “When are you going to move?” We are not. This house still works wonderfully for us. When the kids came home during the pandemic, we were so grateful for the space. I transformed my daughter’s room into a combination office and entertainment room. My daughter calls it my man cave and I call it my ready room.
While I could see why someone might downsize, I am optimistic that this house will work for us for another decade or so. For all the changes we have experienced as a family, this house still fits us, twenty-five years later.
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