Enjoy DIY Today

Living in the city can be very expensive. Our father had passed away last year making it even more difficult to pay the mortgage. Now it was only mother, three sisters and myself. I just turned fifteen last month and worked only part time as a delivery boy at the corner grocery store. That was not enough to cover bills and the house was too small for us already. Our options were few. We could move to an apartment or come up with some refurbishment projects to make the house more livable. One idea that my older sister had was to take out another mortgage and use part of the money for house extension. Basically that would mean adding another bedroom. House extension sounds good but we can't pay the bills as it is, another mortgage is not realistic. We need ideas on how to raise money for our refurbishment projects. Mother suggested asking Tony to help us. Tony is our uncle and works in construction.

Mother contacted Tony and asked for suggestion that he thought may help us. He came over to the house to talk to us in person. We gave him our idea of getting a house extension. He was honest with us and told us that the cost and work involved was not realistic. Tony suggested that we abandoned any refurbishment projects for the house and told us to consider selling the house and move in to a flat.

I was quite disappointed in Tony. I was hoping he would offer his services to have the project completed. Instead he is suggesting moving to an apartment. With the income we generate we couldn't afford to pay rent for a regular flat, we could only afford something cheaper and would need a flat refurbishment anyways. When I told him about the the type of apartment we could afford and needing his help for flat refurbishment his eyebrows raised in astonishment, he just realized that we needed more than his advice we needed his professionalism his skill.

The flat refurbishment idea was rejected Tony offered to help us but he would have to ask one of his co-workers to help him. Tony mentioned that his friend would work for free if we provided living space during the length of the project. Mother who had been silent during this whole conversation suddenly and sternly stated that we could skip hire in service. There was no way anyone was going to live in her house but family. Mother thanked Tony for coming over and told him she will get back to him.

Of course Mother had no intention of calling on Tony again. She called me into her bedroom and told me to close the door behind me. She looked at me with those determined eyes and told me in a slight whisper so the others would not hear. She told me we were not selling the house, instead she will find work cleaning peoples houses, the children will learn to bake cookies that we can sell and I will ask the grocer to extend my work hours to full time. She told me the ingredients for reaching your goals is hard work and determination, but most of all was faith.

Mother passed away a year later but I will never forget those words. The insurance she left us paid for all the bills including the mortgage. Uncle Tony became our guardian and has moved in with us. I left the grocery job and just go to school. My sisters are doing fine and what they do best. Being a nuisance.