A New Direction - written in September

Written September 5 - "Today as I take the pictures off the wall of the small office in which I have worked for the past year, it finally feels real that I am in fact making a HUGE change in my life."


Sometimes it is easier to resist change, until you are forced to do it.

As of September 5, I am no longer the Victim Advocate in Scott County, Missouri, a small county in the Midwest. I have started a new career as a Real Estate Agent with Realty One Associates in Cape Girardeau, MO.

For six weeks, I attended real estate school from 6-10 pm four nights a week, after a full day in the courthouse. I wrote my school exam, and then wrote the national and state exams, passing both on my first attempt. I have a mentor, Laura Ritter, who is one of the top agents in this area. I have a fabulous location to work out of when I am not showing homes and meeting people at the Realty One new Cape Girardeau office on La Croix Road in Cape Girardeau.

You see, when I (and my office) saw the writing on the wall, and then got the news that the grant that funded my position would be dwindling away, I got proactive, and took up the offer of my friend Laura to go back to school. Perhaps the county will decide to fund this position in their next budget starting January 2014, but unfortunately I do like to eat, and could not wait around, or work for no pay. They recognized that too and so they suggested that if I found a new opportunity, I should probably grab it. The Prosecuting Attorney's office knows that they desperately need a good Victim Advocate. I was a good one. I would have continued in that very difficult position for a long time, longer than most of my predecessors, if there had been funds to pay me. I would have listened every day and read reports every day of how people hurt other people, by attacking, molesting, abusing, and beating them. The stories often made me cry and yet I had to listen in order to assist them through the process where they, as victims of crime, may have to face their abuser in court, and often testify against them. 

My last work at the court house was a jury trial which convicted a pedophile, so I left the courthouse feeling good about the work I had done here. I advocated for many victims and hopefully helped ease the stress of the judicial system for them as well. I often sent them on to other community resources as well, like to Beacon Health Center for counseling and assessment, to Mission Missouri for Anger management or parenting classes, and to House of Refuge for shelter. I urged the county's law enforcement to listen to the victims of domestic violence and incorporated new practices to make the paperwork of law enforcement officers easier. Using tough love, I encouraged - tough but with kindness - many women to find a better way than going back to the man beating them.

So, now for the turn around.....I hope to help many of you have less stress in either the buying or the selling of your home. I plan to be the very best realtor that I can be, and will use the same passion and focus in helping my clients in my new job as I did in the old. I plan to blog with some focus on how your home can be your castle.......see you down the road....new things ahead.

Life can be peaceful in rural Missouri

Yesterday I sat on the front porch of a little house in the historic town of Leopold, Missouri. The air smelled like summer turning to fall, and the birds were singing, the sun was shining. It was a peaceful moment.
I was in Leopold to put the lockbox on a little house that I am selling there as a Realtor, and doing a few things to help the seller have the house ready to sell.

As I sat on the front step, I thought about what it would be like to live there. My dog, Cleo, was with me, and she was making friends with the neighbor's male daschund. The two of them were sniffing each other and jumping all over the front yard. She was enjoying being with a dog her own size, instead of the 80 pound brother she has at home.
 
The 1.4 acres of land was mowed and smelled sweet. I thought, I could be here, live here, feel at peace here. There is a historic church just down the road built in the late 1800's. I can see its spire from my spot on the front porch; it is lovely and I want to tour the inside of it. The schools here have won awards. There is a small general store that looks like it tries to meet the needs of its community.
 
I am sure that I could get to know people here easily, and I already have one friend that lives here. It felt a little like going back in time, when we were not so concerned about the digital age,(even though I checked and my cell phone did have great coverage there on the porch). And it made me think of all the places in the world to which I have travelled, where the focus is on taking life easier, going slower, and developing relationships instead of just getting business done.
 
History Lesson: In 1856, Reverend John van Luytelaar established Vinemount, Missouri when he and 12 other families went looking for farm land. These families traveled down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi River by boat to Cape Girardeau and then found the community of Vinemount. Other families followed them and the community was starting to unfold. Some of these families were unable to make the pioneer life and left back for Cincinnati after two years of living here. In 1894 the first post office was built to serve the town of Vinemount. In the process of building the post office, they realized there was already a post office in Missouri by the name of Vinemount. This was when a name change was in order. The people then decided on the name of "Leopolis" (City of Leo), in honor of the Pope. This name was rejected and the present name, Leopold, was then proposed and accepted.

Interesting Facts: St. John’s Catholic Church, located on Main Street in Leopold, was built in 1899. Work began in the spring and the church was built in pure Gothic style from native limestone found around and near the town. Parishioners of St. John’s did most of the work on the church themselves. In May 1944, the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace was dedicated to the members of the parish who were serving in the armed forces. Children of the community were asked to find the stones used to construct the shrine. After the shrine was built, evening Rosaries were said for those serving in the armed forces. The prayers for the safe return of the service men and women have worked, for not one member of the armed forces who lives in the Leopold parish has failed to return home alive.

Sometimes, it is meaningful to take a moment and appreciate the history of a place. I wonder why life was so hard for some of those early families that made them return home to Cincinnati and I could imagine the pioneers working hard on the land, creating farms for food and commerce. I wonder what the families that stayed saw when they looked around their new community, and how they conceived of building a limestone Gothic church in this remote newly adopted home.

Check out my listing on www.homesbyreno.com or www.semohousehunter.com or www.houseviewonline.com
Maybe you will find the same peaceful experience I did.