Love Letters From the Grave(59)

Charlie smiled, looking thoughtful. ‘That’s a very Amish approach.’

‘How perfect,’ said Molly.

It had been a very busy and eventful holiday season, and they looked forward with great happiness to their life together in the coming year, and for many years beyond.



One day at lunch in The Amish House, after a happy weekend of fishing and eating fine fare, Jesse pulled a paper from his pocket and passed it to Molly. It was the part of his will that he made a year before her first marriage, which deeded his property to her, with the stipulation that she live in the home, and take care of him until his death. He had made the will at the time she quit her job to take care of him, after her mother died.

She passed the paper to Charlie, while Jesse cleared his throat.

‘I have a new proposal for you. Would you and Charlie move into the home and take care of me in my dotage? In return, you’ll receive the title to the property.’

Charlie was intrigued, not only because it was a nice, four-acre piece of property with a large house, but also because it contained a barn, numerous outbuildings, a one-acre orchard, and another one-acre piece of ground which had, for years, been used as a very productive garden. His thoughts immediately harkened back to his youth and working on his family's farm and to Wendell’s family share-cropping on the property.

The memory of his own family’s sense of charity returned to him. ‘We’ll do all that for you, Jesse, you know we will. But you don’t have to deed us the farm.’

‘Let us have a think about it, Dad, and get back to you.’

‘Well, be quick as you can,’ said Jesse, tucking into a slice of apple pie. ‘I’m not getting younger any time soon.’

For the next two months, they pondered the pluses and minuses of Jesse's proposal. They had already been trying to decide whether they would continue to rent the home they were in, or find a nice home to purchase. Jesse's proposal forced them to finally get serious about it.

Near the end of the two-month period, their first anniversary rolled around. They spent the entire time at the cabin as a repeat of their honeymoon at the lake. As promised, they devoted a lot of time to discussing Jesse's proposal. In the end, they easily decided that they would conditionally accept Jesse’s offer and move into his home, as soon as possible. Living in a large house on a farm - albeit a mini-farm - fulfilled Charlie's most frequent dream while he was in prison.

Furthermore, they were certain that they could easily take care of Jesse, no matter how long he lived and no matter what his future needs might be. He was nearing the end of his term of office and had decided not to run for re-election as County Sheriff, and regardless of how much longer he worked he would retire within a few years, in reasonably good health and fitness. Molly would be retiring within the next six years, or so, at which time she would have all her time to devote to caring for the property and her father. To put the icing on the cake, they decided to have the property appraised and pay Jesse the full value in cash (from George’s settlement on Molly), to be put into savings or investments that he could bequest from his estate. Without hesitation, he accepted the general outlines of the plan, and gave them permission to proceed with it as soon as possible.

They began immediately to plan remodelling and refurbishment, and when Jesse worried about the fees involved, Molly finally told him about George’s gifts to her and Charlie. His worries settled, Jesse hired local painters, carpenters and craftsmen and had them all working before the end of the week. By the end of the first month, the workers had completed most of the work on the exterior of the house, and on the mini-farm itself. The crowning jewel of the modifications was the beautiful bluegrass lawn which had been sodded around the house, and set-off by a pretty white picket fence. They also enclosed the one-acre garden with a four-foot high chain-link fence, to protect it from the animals which would be roaming about the farm.

It took the better part of three months to complete everything inside the house itself. The most time-consuming projects were the modernization of the kitchen and bathroom, which were both fitted with brand-new fixtures and appliances; the building of a three-bedroom apartment, complete with dining room, kitchen and bathroom, in the huge basement, and the conversion of the attic into a bedroom with its own bathroom. The back one-third of the basement was remodeled into a very large pantry, with shelving and bins for food storage. The house was also brought up to modern building codes with new electrical wiring, plumbing pipes, and heating/cooling ductwork.

After getting everything moved into their new home and vacating their rental home, they went shopping for a new car, deciding on purchasing a mid-size, beige-colored Buick, with a brown and beige interior. They had everything they needed and more, and continually expressed their gratitude for such blessings.

Once the remodeling and construction were completed, and they were settled into their new home, they decided to begin spending weekends at their lake house. Moreover, they decided to make the first weekend a celebratory one, with Jesse as their guest, relaxing and fishing at their cabin, and seeing their friends and having meals at the Amish House

They were still only early into their second year of marriage, but somehow they had gathered friends and family around them and acquired a four-acre "mini-farm". Nearly every other weekend was spent at their lake cabin, even during the winter, now that it was heated with their wonderful wood-burning stove.