My wife Ivy and I hadn't seen each other since August of last year when Reia and I moved to the US. She was visiting Reia and was to come on Friday, while I'm scheduled to go to India a few days later. The bad news is that we won't get too much time with each other. The good news is that we will get a few days.
Reia and I were excited. We had bought a house here in Wilton and the closing was scheduled to happen on April 2nd. I thought what if I could prepone it by a few days. And give Ivy a surprise. Not possible I was told, but that had never stopped me from trying. Called my realtor who called the sellers realtor who called the seller who called her lawyer who called my lawyer who called my bank who called me and after a couple of these circular conversations everyone actually agreed. But the earliest it was possible was the 29th at 1 p.m. Ivy's flight got in at 4 p.m. Just about time if all went well for me to close and go pick up Ivy at the airport.
I made all the down payments to my lawyer the previous day, to reduce delays the next day. I had an appointment at 11.30 am the next day with my realtor Linda to do a walk about in my soon to be new home. Reia and I met Linda at 11.30 and did the walk about. Linda was more interested than us in ensuring that everything was working. Reia and I were too excited to care. Once Linda approved she gave us a key from the realtor's box but not before extracting a promise that we wouldn't use it until the formal closing. This was so we had a key to get Ivy to the house.
We then went to my lawyer's office. He had all the papers ready. And got me to sign in a zillion places. And for some that needed a witness, he had his assistant witness them, but only after I signed in front of her, so it all was done exactly as required. Finally after what seemed like a long time, but was under 10 minutes when I looked at the time, he smiled and said, we were all good. He gave me the 2 checks from Citibank to hold before he would exchange them with the sellers lawyer. I held it lovingly before kissing it goodbye. It was 12.30.
My lawyer, Nate one of the nicest lawyers and also one of the nicest persons I had met, a rare combination for a lawyer said I could leave and he would call me as soon as he had completed the closing and the house was mine. Reia and I set off for the airport. We were hoping the call would come before we picked up Ivy. Luckily for us the call came whilst we were on the way to the airport. It was short and simple, "Congratulations. You are now the legal owner of 16 Wilton Crest.". A simpler response, "Thank You".
We encountered the usual traffic on our way to JFK and got an SMS notifying us that Ivy's flight had landed long before we got to JFK. We were hoping that Ivy would follow the family tradition of having our bags being the last to arrive on the occasions that they were not lost. She did not disappoint. And long after we reached the airport, out walked Ivy, looking prettier and more beautiful than I remembered her. Reia and I couldn't stop smiling and were competing with each other to get her attention and to talk with her. Needless to say, I lost.
In the car, once Reia had a breather, I told Ivy I had some news for her. And informed her that the owners of the house we were buying had changed their mind about closing and they would no longer do the closing on the 2nd. Ivy who was so looking forward to doing up the house on her short trip of a week looked devastated. She put up a brave front and said its okay. Before launching into a tirade about how I was an expert at botching up stuff. She was convinced I must have done something wrong to get the owners to change their mind and so on and so forth. Reia who normally cannot stop giggling put up a brave front and joined her Mon in criticizing me. She was able to get in her share of stuff I had done for which I was to be blamed, aware that there was nothing I could say. I grinned and tried putting up a brave front but without much luck.
We finally pulled up at our new home. Ivy looked around and said this reminded her of the house we were to buy. She still didn't get it. We entered the home and she looked around and loved everything that she saw. And still didn't get it. She finally went to the bedrooms and seeing no furniture was puzzled. And finally got it. And started yelling and shrieking and jumping like a kid who got everything she wanted. That moment of joy, made it all worthwhile. And the hug and kiss I got was amazing enough to qualify for its very own article.
Reia and I were excited. We had bought a house here in Wilton and the closing was scheduled to happen on April 2nd. I thought what if I could prepone it by a few days. And give Ivy a surprise. Not possible I was told, but that had never stopped me from trying. Called my realtor who called the sellers realtor who called the seller who called her lawyer who called my lawyer who called my bank who called me and after a couple of these circular conversations everyone actually agreed. But the earliest it was possible was the 29th at 1 p.m. Ivy's flight got in at 4 p.m. Just about time if all went well for me to close and go pick up Ivy at the airport.
I made all the down payments to my lawyer the previous day, to reduce delays the next day. I had an appointment at 11.30 am the next day with my realtor Linda to do a walk about in my soon to be new home. Reia and I met Linda at 11.30 and did the walk about. Linda was more interested than us in ensuring that everything was working. Reia and I were too excited to care. Once Linda approved she gave us a key from the realtor's box but not before extracting a promise that we wouldn't use it until the formal closing. This was so we had a key to get Ivy to the house.
We then went to my lawyer's office. He had all the papers ready. And got me to sign in a zillion places. And for some that needed a witness, he had his assistant witness them, but only after I signed in front of her, so it all was done exactly as required. Finally after what seemed like a long time, but was under 10 minutes when I looked at the time, he smiled and said, we were all good. He gave me the 2 checks from Citibank to hold before he would exchange them with the sellers lawyer. I held it lovingly before kissing it goodbye. It was 12.30.
My lawyer, Nate one of the nicest lawyers and also one of the nicest persons I had met, a rare combination for a lawyer said I could leave and he would call me as soon as he had completed the closing and the house was mine. Reia and I set off for the airport. We were hoping the call would come before we picked up Ivy. Luckily for us the call came whilst we were on the way to the airport. It was short and simple, "Congratulations. You are now the legal owner of 16 Wilton Crest.". A simpler response, "Thank You".
We encountered the usual traffic on our way to JFK and got an SMS notifying us that Ivy's flight had landed long before we got to JFK. We were hoping that Ivy would follow the family tradition of having our bags being the last to arrive on the occasions that they were not lost. She did not disappoint. And long after we reached the airport, out walked Ivy, looking prettier and more beautiful than I remembered her. Reia and I couldn't stop smiling and were competing with each other to get her attention and to talk with her. Needless to say, I lost.
In the car, once Reia had a breather, I told Ivy I had some news for her. And informed her that the owners of the house we were buying had changed their mind about closing and they would no longer do the closing on the 2nd. Ivy who was so looking forward to doing up the house on her short trip of a week looked devastated. She put up a brave front and said its okay. Before launching into a tirade about how I was an expert at botching up stuff. She was convinced I must have done something wrong to get the owners to change their mind and so on and so forth. Reia who normally cannot stop giggling put up a brave front and joined her Mon in criticizing me. She was able to get in her share of stuff I had done for which I was to be blamed, aware that there was nothing I could say. I grinned and tried putting up a brave front but without much luck.
We finally pulled up at our new home. Ivy looked around and said this reminded her of the house we were to buy. She still didn't get it. We entered the home and she looked around and loved everything that she saw. And still didn't get it. She finally went to the bedrooms and seeing no furniture was puzzled. And finally got it. And started yelling and shrieking and jumping like a kid who got everything she wanted. That moment of joy, made it all worthwhile. And the hug and kiss I got was amazing enough to qualify for its very own article.
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