Friday, August 10, 2012
Farewell, 3810 Miami Road
Yesterday was a bittersweet day for my wife and me: with our two kids off to college, we sold our family home of 22 years. We left Boston in 1990 to move to Cincinnati to start a family, and we were blessed to buy a wonderful home in Mariemont, Ohio. We celebrated many wonderful events there -- baby's first day home from the hospital, toddler's first steps, first day of school, birthdays, sleepovers, proms, graduations, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. But what I remember most is the simple joy of turning into the driveway after a long day, into the warm embrace of home and family. Our laughter often bounced off the walls. Other times, the floors absorbed our tears. But all somehow ennobled our home, enriching our lives. My wife and I held hands and prayed as we left 3810 Miami Road for the last time, thanking God for the incredible blessing of our time there. We tried to be good stewards, taking the opportunity with every repair, improvement, and addition through the years to strengthen the home for her future journey. I remember a scene from Thirtysomething, in which Hope sat at a window seat, seeing the ghosts of the prior families that had lived in their home. As we turn our home over to the fifth owners in her 62-year life. we pray that they will love her as we have, and will appreciate her many blessings.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2012/08/farewell-.html
Comments
How is this related to the practice of law? More so, than you might think. I work mostly for real people, not fictitious entities, and often their decisions are determined by emotional, not rational factors.
Sell the family farm, 1500 miles away, because the capital-gains tax may never be less and the risk of absentee landlord management increases with the owner's age? They don't teach in law school, what to do with clients deeply rooted in the soil. Sell the family home in a deteriorating neighborhood, and move to assisted living? Often, estate planning turns into prolonging-life planning, another subject not covered. Here's what sometimes works: Tell the client that the memories are in their heads, not in their homes.
There's an interesting article about home ownership in a recent New Yorker, abstracted here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/30/120730fa_fact_stuart
If I worked in Cincinnati, I would want to live in the oldest house still in use in the metropolitan area, across the river in Bromley. It's the Landmark, built by my ancestor Prettyman Merry in the late 18th Century.
Posted by: Bob | Aug 11, 2012 11:09:55 AM
it's a little dusty in here...must have something in my eye...thanks for the heartfelt sentiment...
Posted by: rogers turner | Aug 10, 2012 11:18:33 AM
That is a great house - I understand why you will miss it after you had Meribethe and I over to visit. It is also a unique house in that I have yet to see another house where a room was added yet the hardwood floor appeared seamless. I hope your next home is just as blessed.
Posted by: Kasey Ingram | Aug 10, 2012 10:04:15 AM
Bruce Bartlett and others who tout the Clinton tax scheme as an important reason for the economic boom in the 1990's seem to ignore other possible contributors to the 1990's economic boom. The stock market bubble contributed to that era's economic boom. Tremendous amounts of capital gains were realized. Also, personal wealth increased due to the rapid increase in real estate prices.
Posted by: Dennis R. Lassila | Aug 10, 2012 8:43:43 AM
I can understand the emotions and gratitude for having been able to raise a family in such a nice home and community. We felt the same way when my mom said that she was going to sell the house in which our family grew up, although all of us kids had moved out long ago, because it was OUR house and no one else should live there. (Mom ended up renting the house for a while and then selling it to my sister.)
(Why would you leave such a wonderful place...unless you had plans to move to, let's see, maybe, California. Also, how did you get grass to grow in the shade?)
Posted by: Woody | Aug 10, 2012 7:30:35 AM
That is beautiful, Paul. Thank you for expressing your humanity, as well as your tax knowledge, in your blog.
Posted by: Richard Gershon | Aug 10, 2012 7:13:07 AM
You will be missed on multiple levels. Thanx for being a man of integrity and a good friend. I wish we were able to spend more time together in your last years in Cincinnati. I'm sure a great future awaits you, Courtney and the rest of the fam.
Posted by: brian | Aug 12, 2012 8:31:56 AM