When great grandpa was in his 90s, Joe the Mail Man offered to deliver the mail closer to the house, away from the busy road. Joe was reprimanded for detouring from the route, breaking post office policy. He steadfastly held his ground, inferring that this would be a good story for the front page of the local paper.
Years later, after Joe retired and his modest house was too much for him to keep up, he called me to sell it. The sale went smoothly. The challenge was where could Joe move to?
I called Walt, a neighbor on Joe’s old mail route. Walt owned a one-level duplex in the area. Walt offered to rent to Joe at about half the going market rent and continued to do so for years. As Walt aged, the duplex became more than he wanted to deal with and he called me to sell it. My dilemma? Where would Joe go? Surely the next owner would triple his rent.
Following Walt’s generous example, I bought the duplex from Walt and continued to rent to Joe at the original lease terms. Again with the passing of time, Joe passed away leaving his home of about 10 years.
Thank you Joe and Walt
