My wife and I had the great opportunity to join one of our clients for a holiday dinner with their family and friends. During dinner, their friend asked what I thought about the whole process, now that I can see my client’s family living in and growing up in their new home (which is about 6+ years old now!). My answer had to do with a complex of feelings about building a thing- a big thing for sure- that would have such a huge impact on the lives of my client’s family. I remarked that it was satisfying for me-especially when there are storms raging- to know that my clients would be safely ensconced in a home built with great materials, by people that really cared about what they were building. But, really, what I truly think of when I think of homes we build came to me when dinner was over- and the kids all clomped down the stairs into the basement to play. It occurred to me that, with the squeals of laughter and the thumping of kids running back and forth having fun with each other, this home had been transformed. On the last day of the build, when I turned over the keys, the transformation was made complete- from a thing in which we pounded nails and sweated miter joints and crown moldings, into a living thing that would stay in the lives of a new generation forever. We aren’t builders- if we do our jobs well, we are magicians. We’ve learned how to turn wood into dreams-studs into memories.
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