A LETTER TO THE FATHER

My second prayer was answered. The seller in PA got greedy and never signed the contract. We were off the hook. In the fall of 1993 I called the owner of the Glen Wild church and we made a verbal deal over the phone. He told us he'd carry the paper and we could have until April to come up with the down and close. It happened that fast. When I hung up the phone I realized there was no turning back.
After the Hell the landlord had put us through by renting to crackheads, the first thing we did was stop paying rent. We needed every penney to make the down payment. I knew from previous experience the system would bog down for at least six months before the Marshal came calling. We had time. Every weekend we drove up to Glen Wild and poked around. If i had hit SF and the EV on the tip, we were about to hit the Catskills ahead of the rush. All around us were tumble down bungalows, run down Hasidic camps, and old farms gone to seed. Real estate had hit rock bottom. Our timing couldn't have been propitious.
Then, in the early spring as the day of the closing approached i recieved a call from the owners' son. "Christmo? Hi. Listen I'm sorry to have to tell you this.....but the deal is off. My father won't sign. He's gotten so nostalgic over the place and my mom....I'm so sorry. I know how much you want that church. If it was only up to me...." I was stunned. In our hearts and heads Mrs. Yummy and I were already there. We hadn't paid rent in months and were about to be evicted. Our bags were packed. How could this happen? I was beside myself with grief. Then I shook it off, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a letter to Florida. (This was way before I had email).
A week later the phone rang. "Christmo? Hi. I don't know what you put in that letter but my old man signed. We're back on. See you next week." In my best Hallmark card mode i had laid it all out to the reticent father. I told him how my wife and I wanted to move from the city, build a family, and there was no one else on earth who would be a better custodian of the old church. I had the will and the chops to save this structure. It was all from the heart. OK. Maybe the kids part was stretching it a bit, but not out of the question. In any case the letter had the desired effect. Dad signed. We were about to get our church.