Life in Mansfield
In 1985 our family moved to Norfolk, MA from Teaneck, NJ as I took on a new position at Boston University. The job was quite intense the first year and, really never let up for the next 20 years. The pressure and commitment to Boston University didn't help my marriage and I found myself on the short end of the string in 1992, divorced and on my own, with visitation rights.
The next ten years proved to be even more difficult, as being a single parent (so to speak), created lots of tension, pressure, but also some enjoyable moments. Trips to California with my daughter where she and I went from the heat of Sacramento to the snowy scene of Lake Tahoe, traveling to Arizona and Southern California, visiting Marineland and getting a private back stage tour were some of the highlights of those years.
In 1998, my father and his companion, Edith came to visit me while I was living in Foxboro. The apartment was in an old house with the ceilings so low, I could bump my head going up the stairs to the bedrooms. If you wanted to look out of the bedroom windows, you had to lie on the floor, as the windows were very small and narrow, lengthwise.
My father decided to do some research on houses and with a realtor being right across the street, he took it upon himself to go visit and do some "home hunting."
When I came home, he was pretty excited, as he found a home in Mansfield that had an in-law set up. Prior to this, I had been looking at homes with extra bedrooms or the basement built out, with the idea being that my dad would live with me during the summers, with Edith coming over for a few months as well.
The Mansfield house was huge. It had four bedrooms on one side and 2 bedrooms on the inlaw side, with two baths for each unit. The owners were quite weird, as the mother lived in the inlaw side and her son (the owner), and his wife and son, lived in the main home. The son was quite strange, following us around as we looked at the home, carrying a baseball bat in his hand. He had a huge German shepherd dog that was nasty, to say the least. The mother on the other side had a small mixed breed that just barked and barked all the time we were there.
Despite feeling uncomfortable and frustrated by this family, I went about putting down an offer in anticipation of buying the home. My dad was going to provide $100,000 for his side of the house and I was putting to pay the rest ($150,000).
Trouble continued as we came closer and closer to the deadline of the sale. It seemed the two families did not get along very well and finding a new home was more difficult than they anticipated. From what I gathered they didn't start looking until accepting my offer.
My dad and Edith went back to Leipzig, convinced the sale would not go through, but I stuck with it, as I discovered both realators were pulling for me, as neither cared for the owners and their attitude.
The home served its purpose, providing us a safe and secure 20 years with little issues other than water in the basement and the usual repairs along the way. Nancy came into my life in 2000 and after a whirlwind romance, we got married on the property in 2002. My dad and Edith lived next door for 7 more years until traveling from Germany to Mansfield became too difficult for my dad. He and Edith enjoyed the summers with us, spending many hours and days gardening and relaxing by the pool.
After my dad left, Nancy bought his part out and we became 50-50 partners in the house. As Nancy was having medical issues we used the in-law living room as our first floor bedroom so Nancy didn't have to walk up and down the stairs.
My mother came to live with us in 2007 and spent the last 5 years of her life with us, having the master bedroom as her private room. Se installed a lift for her so she could get up and down the stairs. We all got along well and my mom loved to walk around the neighborhood and do what she could to help out around the house.
After the passing of my dad in 2009 and my mom in 2012, Tabitha moved next door with her new husband, Derek, and then our grandson Jack was born. The next five or so years were lots of fun as Jack would come over often (we had a door that was always open between the two units). By that time I had stopped working at Boston University and helped coach the track team at Mansfield High School.
Those were good years, rewarding and happy. As usual life throws some hurdles in along the way, as Tabitha ended up getting divorced and Nancy ran into more and more medical issues. For the most part, Mansfield was a good run for us. I lived there for 20 years, longer than anywhere else in my life.
In 1985 our family moved to Norfolk, MA from Teaneck, NJ as I took on a new position at Boston University. The job was quite intense the first year and, really never let up for the next 20 years. The pressure and commitment to Boston University didn't help my marriage and I found myself on the short end of the string in 1992, divorced and on my own, with visitation rights.
The next ten years proved to be even more difficult, as being a single parent (so to speak), created lots of tension, pressure, but also some enjoyable moments. Trips to California with my daughter where she and I went from the heat of Sacramento to the snowy scene of Lake Tahoe, traveling to Arizona and Southern California, visiting Marineland and getting a private back stage tour were some of the highlights of those years.
In 1998, my father and his companion, Edith came to visit me while I was living in Foxboro. The apartment was in an old house with the ceilings so low, I could bump my head going up the stairs to the bedrooms. If you wanted to look out of the bedroom windows, you had to lie on the floor, as the windows were very small and narrow, lengthwise.
My father decided to do some research on houses and with a realtor being right across the street, he took it upon himself to go visit and do some "home hunting."
When I came home, he was pretty excited, as he found a home in Mansfield that had an in-law set up. Prior to this, I had been looking at homes with extra bedrooms or the basement built out, with the idea being that my dad would live with me during the summers, with Edith coming over for a few months as well.
The Mansfield house was huge. It had four bedrooms on one side and 2 bedrooms on the inlaw side, with two baths for each unit. The owners were quite weird, as the mother lived in the inlaw side and her son (the owner), and his wife and son, lived in the main home. The son was quite strange, following us around as we looked at the home, carrying a baseball bat in his hand. He had a huge German shepherd dog that was nasty, to say the least. The mother on the other side had a small mixed breed that just barked and barked all the time we were there.
Despite feeling uncomfortable and frustrated by this family, I went about putting down an offer in anticipation of buying the home. My dad was going to provide $100,000 for his side of the house and I was putting to pay the rest ($150,000).
Trouble continued as we came closer and closer to the deadline of the sale. It seemed the two families did not get along very well and finding a new home was more difficult than they anticipated. From what I gathered they didn't start looking until accepting my offer.
My dad and Edith went back to Leipzig, convinced the sale would not go through, but I stuck with it, as I discovered both realators were pulling for me, as neither cared for the owners and their attitude.
The home served its purpose, providing us a safe and secure 20 years with little issues other than water in the basement and the usual repairs along the way. Nancy came into my life in 2000 and after a whirlwind romance, we got married on the property in 2002. My dad and Edith lived next door for 7 more years until traveling from Germany to Mansfield became too difficult for my dad. He and Edith enjoyed the summers with us, spending many hours and days gardening and relaxing by the pool.
After my dad left, Nancy bought his part out and we became 50-50 partners in the house. As Nancy was having medical issues we used the in-law living room as our first floor bedroom so Nancy didn't have to walk up and down the stairs.
My mother came to live with us in 2007 and spent the last 5 years of her life with us, having the master bedroom as her private room. Se installed a lift for her so she could get up and down the stairs. We all got along well and my mom loved to walk around the neighborhood and do what she could to help out around the house.
After the passing of my dad in 2009 and my mom in 2012, Tabitha moved next door with her new husband, Derek, and then our grandson Jack was born. The next five or so years were lots of fun as Jack would come over often (we had a door that was always open between the two units). By that time I had stopped working at Boston University and helped coach the track team at Mansfield High School.
Those were good years, rewarding and happy. As usual life throws some hurdles in along the way, as Tabitha ended up getting divorced and Nancy ran into more and more medical issues. For the most part, Mansfield was a good run for us. I lived there for 20 years, longer than anywhere else in my life.
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