subject: Family Support Can Be Discovered In Surprising Places [print this page] When Sally scheduled an appointment for a viewing of the house on Colonial Lane she had no idea she was going to fall in love with it immediately. Although the home was built in 1926 it had been completely maintained and still conveyed much of its original charm and character. To her immense delight, the home was built with a large sun room that ran the entire length of the house on the east side and was the perfect place to set up her studio. Sally had been teaching piano to gifted students for quite a long time but she felt cramped in the house she lived in now because her living room was the only place large enough for her baby grand. She had always dreamed of a larger space to have a true studio and this was going to be ideal. She decided she would purchase another instrument that included an artist piano bench that perfectly suited her needs. At the same specialty shop, she also located a duet piano bench and decided to purchase it for her Steinway baby grand because it would greatly aid her while she was accompanying her students.
It took no time at all for Sally to take on more students due to her new location in a beautiful little suburb north of Cincinnati. She loved the challenge of teaching and truly enjoyed her students but she was discovering that she was falling behind in every aspect of keeping house for her husband and two young daughters. It had seemed much easier to clean, run errands, and cook dinners prior to moving and enrolling additional students thus using up so much more of her time and energy.
Sally keep plugging along for as long as she could but knew she had to change some things because she was growing so tired and dissatisfied that she considered cutting back on her teaching. She mentioned it to her neighbor, Lydia, a 66 year old widow who happened to reside in the same block. It took no time at all to schedule a time for Lydia to assist her on a regular basis with the children. They agreed that Lydia would come to the house Monday through Friday after school where she would look after her daughters while they completed their school work each day. She also offered to cook the family meal for them so Sally would have a home-cooked dinner each night for her family. The advantages of this arrangement were apparent right away to Sally and she immediately felt more in control but there were advantages to Lydia as well. These advantages included:
Added income - Being a widow with limited income had caused Lydia to consider selling her home to cut back on expenses. The added money she made each week greatly helped her meet her financial goals.
Sense of family - Lydia had only one son whom she rarely saw and Sally, her husband and two girls turned out to be more like family to her very quickly.
Feeling needed - Being around a young family again gave her a true sense of worth that she had not felt for a long time.
