So Guess Who Pulled a “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” On Me?

by | Apr 3, 2020 | Uncategorized | 13 comments

Do you remember that scene at the end of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when Toula’s parents buy them a house?

And then you find out that the house is right next door the parents’ house?
Well, let me tell you a story.
Last month, on March 7, I gave a Girl Talk presentation at my daughter Katie’s church, in a small military town about 3 1/2 hours from where we live. I stayed with Katie for a few days (this was, of course, the weekend before Canada shut down) and we went on walks and talked. And she said that, if she were Rebecca and Connor, she would buy a house in Belleville now, before prices went up. (They had been staying in Ottawa because Connor intended to go back to school to get his counseling degree, but then their intention was to move to our town).
They could always rent out the house in the meantime, but at least they’d be in the market before the prices in Belleville skyrocketed.
When we got back from our walk we FaceTimed with Rebecca and mentioned the idea. She and Connor then did a lot of research on counseling degrees and found another way for him to get it. And they came down to Belleville and looked at houses while Keith and I were away speaking in Myrtle Beach (the weekend before the U.S. shut down). After seeing the two that had looked promising online look not-so-great in real life, they were discouraged. But then their real estate agent took them to one more, which was perfect.
They put an offer in. It was accepted. And yesterday they moved.

And the house is around the corner from us, about 600 meters away (I don’t know how many feet that is, but it’s like a 5 minute walk).

They packed up their whole house in Ottawa by themselves, and moved all the furniture into the truck by themselves, with no help, with a 5-month old baby on hand, too. Normally they would have had a ton of friends help, but they were trying not to burst their COVID-19 protective bubble.
And then yesterday we did help, because we’ve been isolating for two and a half weeks now, and they’ve been completely isolating using up all their food, so we thought it was okay.
So my grandson now lives right near me! And they are so happy.
I took this picture last night after the baby was in bed, and it finally hit them that they have a house they love in a neighbourhood they love in a city Rebecca loves, and Connor will come to love (he doesn’t know it that well yet!).
Rebecca bought a house around the corner
A month ago they weren’t even thinking of moving. And today they live around the corner from me.
So that’s why I’ve been a little quiet on social media lately, and why yesterday’s post was messed up in the morning (sorry!). Connor and Rebecca (who also work on the blog) have been busy, and yesterday i was cooking up a storm to feed everyone.
Because they both work from home, we can all self-isolate, and we’ll just appoint one person from the two households to do all of the grocery shopping. Don’t know what I’ll do if Keith is called into the hospital. At that point I’d need to stop seeing the kids or else move in with them and stop seeing Keith! I guess I’ll decide then.
So that’s an update on us! How are you all coping? Let’s talk in the comments!


Looking for things to do in isolation this weekend?

 

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Sheila Wray Gregoire

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Sheila Wray Gregoire

Author at Bare Marriage

Sheila is determined to help Christians find biblical, healthy, evidence-based help for their marriages. And in doing so, she's turning the evangelical world on its head, challenging many of the toxic teachings, especially in her newest book The Great Sex Rescue. She’s an award-winning author of 8 books and a sought-after speaker. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila works with her husband Keith and daughter Rebecca to create podcasts and courses to help couples find true intimacy. Plus she knits. All the time. ENTJ, straight 8

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13 Comments

  1. Jane Eyre

    This is delightful!!
    Your grandson will have such good memories of growing up so close to his grandparents.
    For American readers, 600 m = a lap and a half around an outdoor track, the ones that go around a football field. 400 m is almost exactly a quarter mile (one lap around an outdoor track).

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      I can hardly wait for the day when he tries to convince his mommy to let him ride his bike to Mimi and Papa’s house by himself! 🙂
      Thanks for translating for me!

      Reply
  2. Phil

    Congratulations to Becca and Connor and of course the Grandparents.

    Reply
  3. Lindsey

    I’m so happy for y’all! That is going to be such a joy! Also, it’ll probably make podcast easier!

    Reply
  4. Arwen

    Soooo happy for you guys. Nothing like having families living together/close by. It’s a beautiful thing! Enjoy.

    Reply
  5. Becky

    That’s going to be so fun for you all, especially once the quarantine is over!

    Reply
  6. Cheryl

    Oh this is such great and happy news!! You are all going to LOVE the arrangement! Two years ago, about this time of year my husband had the idea of our daughter/son-in-law and grandson living on our property. We presented the idea to them and they were on board!! As it was they lived exactly ONE MILE away from us (cuz we had moved from a different city that was one hour away when we learned they were expecting that first child). Well we found out that although our property was large enough for another dwelling the city regulations did not allow for additional septic tanks and the whole idea went down the drain. But we started a search of properties that might work, which was tough because my daughter’s husband needs a certain internet connection for his stay at home job. We don’t exactly live in PODUNK but we must be really close to it because that made things tough. Summer of 2018 we found a place – a lot with a Large house on it, a creek running through it, lots of room/foresty area for kids and a large enough front yard that ended up being a separate tax lot that hubby and I could build a house there. We’ve been married for 35 years and moved 23 times but have never considred building because…we don’t believe in divorce!! LOL! But here we were with that looming ahead of us. Moved my daughter and her family in to the big house in Sept ’18 one month before her due date with baby #2, and because our previous house had sold right away we moved into our daughter’s old house that they decided not to list until spring. We broke ground on our new house 10/30/18 and the builder and two other guys worked through THE coldest winter. Daughter listed her old house in March and it sold right away, to the first person who viewed it! So now my husband and I moved into her guest room which was in the basement of the 3 story house she was living in. Our new house was ready for us to move in to the last weekend of May 2019 (my husband still had lots of finish work to do but it was livable and our own space). Long story long…we live in my daughter’s front yard, my grandson can stand on his front porch and yell GRANDMAAAAAAA and I can hear him 😀 We love the arrangement, they love the arrangement, you are going to LOVE your new arrangement. Now if we could just get our son to move 5 hours west and be at least in the same area/state. 😀

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      Oh, that’s so lovely! I love the picture of your grandson yelling for you!

      Reply
  7. Amy F;)

    🙂 🙂 🙂

    Reply
    • Lydia purple

      So now Connor lives around the corner… sorry for the bad pun.
      This is great news, so good to be close to family! And respect Rebecca and Corner for pulling off a move by yourself with a baby!

      Reply
      • Lydia purple

        Oops, was supposed to be it’s own comment.

        Reply
  8. Cynthia

    Wow! It took us over a year to find our house and move in, so the idea that they could move to a different city with a baby in less than a month blows my mind.
    Living near family can be great. My parents and inlaws live in buildings that are next to each other, and we are about a 15-20 minute walk away. Your grandson is adorable and it’s great when grandparents can be so close by.

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      It really was quite the story! They were sure exhausted this weekend. 🙂 But they’re very happy. And their little dog Winston, who has lived in apartments for the last few years, made a friend with the dog in the nextdoor backyard!

      Reply

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