This will mark the first year that we will be celebrating Christmas without my wife’s grandfather whose birth we also celebrated on Christmas Day. Throughout his life he demonstrated the highest integrity as well as always caring deeply for his family and friends. He was one that demonstrated his walk with God not only by talking about it but by living it for all those around him see. While we will surely miss playing games and listening to his stories tomorrow we will forever be influenced by his character and love he gave to his family.
In addition to all the fond memories I have of him, he also played a significant role in our(my wife and I’s) investing career. He made us a loan of $4,000 for the first house we ever bought and then when we sold that house he loaned us about $30,000 for our next house and then $70,000 for the next one. On our second mobile home park, he provided the 1st mortgage for that one and then had made several loans over the years to help buy parks or else buy mobile homes to put in those parks. He truly wanted us to succeed and was always the first to ask how things were going and was genuinely interested in everything we were doing.
He lived a great life from his early days of laying the railroad across Kansas to farming for many years when he sold his farm and moved to Colorado to start a real estate brokerage. He actually put together journals of his life and we are working on putting those all together into a few books for the family. It is amazing how many people he has touched and all the experiences he and his wife had.
While our family celebrates Christmas this year we will hold his memories close by and always be reminded of the influence he has had on our lives and strive to be followers of God and a positive influence on all those around us.
This has certainly been a great year for us as we continue to grow our businesses (both in our teaching as well as investing). We are expecting our 2nd grandchild in January and are really liking the grandparent thing! We appreciate all the wonderful feedback we have received this year. We continue to believe in affordable housing and while it is great to make money it is also satisfying to hear how we are able to provide our residents with a great place to live and to help many of them to realize the dream of home ownership.
i want to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and a prosperous and safe New Year!
Dave Reynolds