A Single Mom, a Dumpy House, and Making Beauty From Broken Pieces

Five years ago, my divorce was being finalized after a two-year separation.

The first house we had bought, back in 2007, was going to be put on the market AS IS. It was a dumpy old place. It was in the worst part of town, the foundation was sinking, and it really had nothing going for it. It had been a foreclosure when we bought it and the renters had absolutely destroyed it between 2009–2015.

When I walked up to that house for the first time in 7 years, I was flooded with emotions. You see, it…