Audrey's Lung Cancer Story

Selling the Apartments and the ripple effect

It has been a busy last few days. The date today is Wednesday, August 10, 2005. I will fill in the actual dates later, but last week Mom and Dad sold their apartment house to Ed Ring's daughter and her husband. She is in a wheelchair. They will not be taking possession until next year. They will be letting mom and dad rent from then until then. In the meantime, Dad called up Donnie and me and asked if he could by my house in Galesburg and slowly renovate it. We didn't think twice and told him that he could buy it. My daughter, Sherry, has been living there since I moved up here to Bettendorf over 4 years ago. So that Dad can renovate the house easier, we needed to find Sherry a place to live.

Just a quick history about the house that I own in Galesburg. My first husband and I signed on August 13, 1980 to have the house built for us under a HUD government subsidy program. It was suppose to be the model home for the Galesburg Area. I was pregnant with my daughter, Sherry, and we were suppose to be in the house before she was born. She was born on January 6, 1981. The house still wasn't done when we sold our trailer on the morning of March 8, 1981. I remember the day well because it was a Sunday Morning and we had Sherry Baptized on that day. The folks that bought the trailer had called at 8 a.m. from Monmouth and they were at our trailer to sign by 9 a.m. The baptism was at 10:30 a.m. It was an exciting morning to be able to tell my parents that we sold the trailer. By the way, the trailer was located at lot 28 in Kimberly Terrace on Galesburg Road in Galesburg. The folks that bought it moved it to Monmouth, Illinois. We were then homeless and had to live with my husband Jim's parents for 3 months. We found out that the contractor was leaving the area so we got a lawyer and we were told to move into the house. To make a long story short, we were able to get the house financed through a different bank and they honored the FHA HUD arrangement. So we owned the house. I was still able to keep the house after our divorce in 1989. By then the FHA HUD arrangement was being dissolved. I was told to get the home refinanced with a regular loan. So my second husband and I refinanced the loan in 1992, I think it was. Apparently, I had only paid $1000 off the principle in 12 years so the refinance was for $38,000. By the time of my second divorce, we had only paid off $6,000. In November of 2004 I paid the house loan off with a Home Equity loan. We were able to borrow up to $50,000 on the house. When I paid off the house, I accidently wrote the check for $37,000 instead of $32,000. The house payment people would not return the extra $5,000 for nearly 2 months. This house has been a white elephant for me. So, when Dad offered to buy it from me, I had to say yes.


To find somewhere else for Sherry to live, Mom and Dad looked at a trailer in Country Elms Estates which is just across the road from where Sherry works at Dick Blick. It sounded like a very nice deal. It has a bedroom at each end and each bedroom has its own bathroom.
There is a fireplace that has never been used. Dad was going to buy it outright but there was still lot rent of about $185 a month. So Dad looked into an apartment at the Lincoln Hotel Downtown Knoxville. It is the brick building on the corner of Main and Hebard. On Tuesday, August 9, 2005, I drove down to Galesburg and picked Sherry up. We went over to Mom and Dad's and even though we didn't have an appointment, Sherry and I should go look at the Lincoln Hotel Apartment House. We did and then we drove out by Country Elms Estates and then out by Kimberly Terrace.

As I stated before, I had lived in Kimberly Terrace from September 1977 until March of 1981. I lived at lot 28. Dad had bought my trailer from a lady Presbytarian Minister.
I loved my trailer. It gave me independence. It was where my first husband and I lived until we sold the trailer on March 8, 1981.

When Sherry and I drove through Kimberly Terrace, I showed her where my Trailer used to be. We tried to go to the office to get information about trailers but no one was there. We decided to go to the trailer park on Wisconsin Ave. We stopped at the office and asked about any trailers for sale or rent. (rooms to let, 50 cents, oh that's from king of the road song by roger miller). She told us about one trailer and promptly took us on a tour of it. Like the one that mom and dad had seen, this one had a bedroom at each end and it had a front and back entrance. Sherry and I fell in love with it. The rent was $290 a month.

We went back to mom and dad's. We had an appointment to look at an apartment in a house across the street from the Grace Lutheran Church and down one more. It is a yellow house now that has been there for years. When we looked inside, it was not what we wanted and even Dad said he didn't like it. We went back to Mom and Dad's and picked mom up and we went to look at the Trailer on Wisconsin Ave. The lady wasn't there so we went to Kimberly Terrace. The temperature at 3 p.m. was about 96 degrees and it was humid as well. We pulled in to the parking lot at Kimberly Terrace and went inside. A young man greeted me and told me he was the manager. I went back out to the van to get Dad. He came in with me and we talked about trailers out there that were for sale. The kid took us to show us a couple trailers. They only wanted $1000 for one of them. We went back to the office and talked about other trailers. He took us around and showed us another one. Dad asked if there were other trailers being sold by the owners. The young man told us of 2. One of them wanted $7000. We drove by the other one at lot 61. We had a hard time finding it. Then we couldn't see the phone number on it. We found the number on a sign on the bedroom window. It was kind of hard to see. We were hot and tired and decided to go home. We went past the blue trailer on Wisconsin one more time. The lady was there and I got the key from her and I walked across to the trailer. Dad drove around, we looked inside. He liked it also but we knew we had other options now. When I took the key back I got a paper with the phone number to call about the trailer.
When we got home the first person Dad called was from Lot 61. He reached the owner and he said that he would be home in 15 minutes. We were exhausted but dad said we would be there. Dad also called Swing's Mobile home park. They didn't seem very helpful. Mom kept reminding dad that we had to go. She was still going with us even after that exhausting afternoon. As we were getting ready to leave, Cousin Gail Cahill called and said that Aunt Kate had developed complications from her Breast Cancer surgery. (Oh, I had left that out also. My Aunt Kate, mom's sister had a breast removed today.) Apparently she had a blood clot in her shoulder now. Since there was nothing we could do, Mom thanked Gail for calling and we went to see this trailer at Lot 61 in Kimberly Terrace.

When Dad knocked on the door, the guy opened it and I recognized him as someone who used to go to Mom and Dad's Church, (Grace Lutheran Church). He let all 4 of us in and told us we could look anywhere. Mom and I stayed in the living room. Sherry and Dad checked it out. Dad asked how much he wanted for it and the guy said $3000. Sounded good to dad and sherry really liked it. We told him we would let him know. As we were getting ready to go, Dad asked sherry what she thought and she said she liked it, because dad liked it, too, he said we should make a deposit so he and sherry went back inside and I stayed in the van with Mom. They came back out about 10 minutes later and it was a done deal. As Sherry and I got back in my van, Sherry started crying and saying, "this is my home" It was quite a moment. What made it more special was having Mom and Dad with it. Mom held up very well during the day.

Mom and Dad have left us such a legacy already. Giving Jake a car, paying for Sherry's Teeth, buying my house and getting sherry a home. I appreciate more than they will ever know.

posted by Cindy @ 11:50 AM