Maybe You've Heard of This Movie ...

I don't know if anyone knows this or not, but Herman has a bit of a hobby. He likes to buy rental properties. A lot. He isn't into high market rentals. Instead, he looks for super great buys that we can either pay cash for or get five year loans so that we can pay the property off quickly. Somehow last summer he ended up befriending a sweet little old lady whose husband had passed away. She wanted to leave this area which she has known her entire life in order to move to New Mexico to live with her daughter. Before she could leave, however, she needed to sell this property she owned. No one was interested ... until she met Herman. It was exactly what he was looking for, so we made up a contract, bought her place, and she moved to her daughter's. All was well.

Until this week. Miss Clara likes to send out her Christmas cards early, so she went to her boxes looking for her stash of cards and couldn't find them anywhere. This box also had some important personal items as well, so Clara was a bit worried, thinking that she had left them behind. She called me several times during the week, but I don't mess with our properties at all. That is Herman's gig or something we turn over to our property manager, Ray. Herman has never been around when Clara called, so we could never let her know if she had left this box behind. I felt so bad for her because she was obviously distressed.

Well, tonight Miss Clara called again. This time I had done my homework and knew that her box had not been left behind. I had to break that bad news to her, which made me a bit sad, but as I talked with her we came up with a plan for where she could look next and hopefully find her missing box.

And here is where things got interesting ...

Miss Clara likes to talk. A lot. I am a terrible conversationalist. Terrible. And as bad as I am in real life, I am even worse on the phone. I just don't know what to say. Ever. But it was okay because Miss Clara talked enough for both of us. She talked with me a lot about her family and the wonderful time she has had living in New Mexico. She talked about her husband and how much she missed him. Then she started to explain to me why her daughter was not in New Mexico with her. Here's how the conversation went:

Miss Clara: Well, my daughter isn't here to help me look for this box because she's in England right now

Me: Wow! England. That sounds fun!

Miss Clara: Yeah. Well, my granddaughter actually needed to be there because she was in a movie. Maybe you've heard of it. It's that Catching Fire movie. You know it?

Me: Do I know it? Yeah! Am I going to the midnight premier? Yeah!!!

Miss Clara: Great! Well, when you go you need to look for my granddaughter.

(At this point I'm thinking that she is an extra in the movie, so I'm thinking, "How in the world am I going to notice your granddaughter in a huge crowd?" Well, Miss Clara is going to help me out here).

Miss Clara: She's that girl with blond hair. It'll be pulled back into two braids. Well, that is it will be unless they changed it from the last movie. She's thirteen, but she looks a lot older. My granddaughter is Willow Shields. She plays that girl ... Primrose Everdeen.

What?????? Primrose Everdeen??? Wow! That is amazingly cool. She's in the UK this week to go to the world premier. So sweet!

I had no idea that our sweet Miss Clara was so connected to that movie. I would have never in a million years guessed that. Then Miss Clara tells me that she really, really wanted to get her Christmas cards sent out this week because next week she is headed to LA to go to the US premier with Primrose herself. Well, I really, really wish that I could have helped her find her cards so that she will be ready for that premier.

Well, I'm a total fan girl about The Hunger Games ... well, at least the first two books. I didn't care for the last one (sorry to all you mega fans out there). But I was cool. I didn't gush ... too much. I just thought it was hilarious how Miss Clara just dropped that little tidbit calmly into the conversation. I don't think she really knows much about The Hunger Games and what sort of following the books and movies have at all. She just loves her granddaughter and is happy that she is finding success in her life. I just love Miss Clara so much. Who knew that buying a property would introduce us to such a sweet person?

So, it was an exciting phone conversation for a book nerd like me tonight. I'll bet lots of people out there have great stories like that just waiting to be revealed, if I would only take the time to talk a little more on the phone. Someday I'll get over my phone phobia. Someday. Until then Miss Clara asked me today if she can call and talk more off and on. She may be the only person on earth who has ever purposely wanted to talk to me a lot on the phone. Like I say, I'm terrible. But I felt good tonight talking with Miss Clara. I could tell that she was feeling a bit lonely all by herself in New Mexico. She was feeling a bit nostalgic for Missouri, and I was able to be a connection to her home. What a rewarding conversation!