WORKING AND LIVING IN THE ‘07 – Around The Frame

They say you can’t go home again, and for all intent in purposes that’s true. You may go home but it is never the same because you are no longer the same person you were when you departed.

Ever since I moved Born Again Quilts Studio from downtown West Wayne Street to South Wayne Avenue, I’ve been wanting to not only work in the ’07 but join my neighboring business owners of the Friendly Fox, Glass Park and the former Shawnee Branch Library building in living in the ’07 too.

In early June I found my dream home online: twenty five photos of a small home on Nuttman Avenue three blocks from where I lived the first seven years of my life were enough to make me pick up the phone and call the realtor to find out if it was still available. The response was, “yes it was still available but they were cutting off offers today at 7 p.m.” Undaunted I call my realtor friend, Beth Steigerwald Walker who calmly lets me know it is going on 4 p.m. and I have a little more than three hours to 1.) get a line of credit from my bank, 2.) tour the home and 3.) write up an offer.

So the race is on. Calling Chase Bank’s mortgage department it took less than 15 minutes for them to document my excellent credit history and send me a letter of credit. I call and inform Beth Step One is complete and we plan to meet at 5:00 p.m. at the home located just six blocks from BAQ. It gives me enough time to drive down and post a “Closed for an Emergency” sign on the BAQ door before we meet.

Click to advertise on this website

Moving through the house is a surreal experience for me. After living in the same home for thirty years I try to absorb it, would I be happy living here, can I make it mine, can I live with its quirks? I express my thoughts to Beth and she is quiet for a moment and when she speaks she sagely states, “Lois for all the years I’ve known you, you’ve given me the impression that you can make something work-it is in your nature.” I reflect on that thinking of the expression “bloom where you are planted” and I take the leap of faith and decide to purchase it. An offer is written and submitted and the waiting begins. The next day after having to make a couple of minor concessions to the seller, Beth calls me with the news: They have accepted my offer!

So now after almost 50 days of closing drama, this house is now my new home. My first order of business was to take a quilt frame over and the grandmother’s flower garden quilt I’ve been quilting over the last couple of years for Deb. As I open the door and walk in on the wall in front of me hangs a small pinwheel pattern quilted wall hanging stating, “Welcome Home Lois”. To this day I still do not know whom to thank, but that’s okay. This way I have good feelings toward Beth, Carla the seller and her realtor Ashley and anyone else who may have taken the time to have it made and hung as a special surprise for me. I appreciate the giver’s gift because it is so thoughtful and symbolizes what I love.

So as I slowly transition from my former home to new, all I can say is, “’07 I’m Back!”

Lois Levihn is the owner of Born Again Quilts located at 4005 South Wayne Ave. She can be contacted at 515-9446 or www.bornagainquilts.com