House Hunting Funny

Denton & I went looking at houses this last weekend. We had a few on our list that we wanted to see, and a few that Ernie, our realtor wanted to take us to. A house we mutually agreed on looking at was nice, but that's all. The weirdest thing is that is was the home of doctor I had interviewed with about a year ago. Sometimes Cleveland is just way too small.

The one house Ernie wanted us to see was out of our price range, but he thought it would give us good perspective. I'm not sure it did that, but it did provide the oddest moment.

The first thing that struck me was that it smelled exactly like my grandmother's house. Not just and old person's home, but my father's mother AND she and her house have been gone for about 20 years. The folks who lived in the house had been there for FORTY-SEVEN years!!!! And had changed very little since the day they moved in. It was very 'Far From Heaven', but not done quite as well. Odd layouts, weird rooms and the smell. It just stuck with me. We get upstairs and there are twin beds that immediately had me flashing on my father and his brother's beds circa 1928. Maybe it was the room set-up, maybe it was the smell. I said nothing to Denton or Ernie about this, because, what would they care?

We walk through the master bedroom which all I can describe as very Courtship of Eddie's Father. Modular bed, weird late '60s art - very not 'Far From Heaven'. From there we go out into the hall to get to the 3rd floor and two things catch my eye for about 3 seconds. I see a family photograph which I'm sure I've seen before and then a framed family tree. MY family tree...on my father's side.

I start laughing and had to explain to both why I was doing so. Denton goes, 'are YOU in that picture?' to which I had to point out the 120lb 6'2", zit faced kid with the off the rack suit and his hair parted down the middle!!!

I asked Ernie, 'whose house IS this', to which he replied 'Sid and Barbara Kaplan'. Whom I would have had to have guessed died eons ago (but apparently not) and would be my second cousin or something.

The next house as we pull up, I says to Ernie 'no one I know or am related to lives here - do they?'.

He didn't reply. He didn't find me humorous.