Note: This is loosely based on our real-life. I (Nancy) can only be 100% sure of the things I personally witnessed. The rest are recreated from my mom Jan's and husband Mike's recounting. I also cannot be sure of they "felt" at any moment, only what I saw or was told later. There are some moments that are so personal, I didnt ask about, so there is a certain amount of creative liberty. I do have their permission to write our story but they are by no means active contributors.
Looking back two years ago, we were a "normal" middle aged couple living in a decent sized town in middle america. My husband Mike owns his construction business he inherited from his family and I dabble in arts while helping him out with work when needed. I didnt grow up here and moved when we got married. Met Mike in college and we both kept in touch and after a couple of years of long-distance flirting, we never officially said we were exclusive, he just up and popped the question one day. It took him another year to get a yes but it honestly was the best decision of my life.
I am incredibly close to my mom who made sure I went to college and built a proper life. Moving away from her was tough but the fact that I was only moving 5 hours away helped. We regularly have her over for Christmas and visits during summer.
Mike happened to have some government approval work in the town right next to my mom and I insisted that he visit her. The way it worked out is that he was able to time his work such that he could check-out of his hotel and visit her on the way back home.
Now you have to understand that Mike is the nicest human being ever and everyone around him LOVES him. What no one other than me knows is that there is another side to him. He is the head of our household and that is that. He would never embarrass me by flaunting that around but I know better than to step out of line. Not even my mom has any clue about this side of his personality.
Now back to what happened on his visit. I have done my best to understand what happened but it is mostly from talking to my mom. What Mike and I didnt realize was that my mom was struggling a little financially and had let the house run down a little. Now she still is fiercely proud of her ability to maintain it but the big ticket items simply had to be put off. Mike being a construction guy, couldnt help but notice the run down siding, the barely acceptable roof and not to mention patched up windows. What he saw inside, I think pushed him over the edge. The house was cold-ish and he could tell she was struggling with her old appliances.
Mike had this look on his face that she had never seen before and through dinner my mom assumed the government permitting work did not go well. once they were done with dinner, Mike said to her,