Ivy Dishes

“My mom found a house for us to look at,” said my fiancé, Jon. “It’s in Richfield, not far from where I grew up.”

Sandy Clay

“Wow, that’s great!” I said. “Maybe this will be the one.”

Jon and I had been searching for our first home for months. Nothing we’d seen so far seemed right. The listings in Richfield had been especially off the mark. But if my soon-to-be mother-in-law, Ruthann, had come across a house for us to look at, I was going to check it out.

I hadn’t had much of a chance yet to get to know Ruthann. Her beloved grandmother, Nana, had recently died, and she’d been preoccupied with grief and helping the rest of Jon’s family clean out Nana’s house. Nana had been the heart and soul of the family, and Ruthann had been especially close to her. Not getting to meet Nana was one of my biggest regrets. I felt honored when Ruthann told me that Nana would’ve liked me. But it wasn’t the same as hearing it from Nana herself. Between not spending much time with Ruthann and not having met Nana, I felt as if I were struggling to find my footing with my future in-laws. I wanted to do whatever I could to draw us closer, including looking at this house that Ruthann had suggested.

The next day, as we drove over, Jon prepped me for the viewing.