Preview of Chapter 3 from book with my Dad

NEXT SPRING will be the launch of the book I am co-authoring with my Dad; Mike Somers on his offbeat stories of triumph, tragedy and life as a mailman and realtor that he shared with me through the years. A lot of life wisdom packed into the book! Here is a sneak peak a Chapter 3! Chapter #3 GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS
In 2006 I represented Barry and Donna in the sale of their Reseda, California home. They had purchased their home at the peak of the market in 2005, and were having great difficulty making the monthly payment. Barry became more and more moody and frustrated, coming home wanting to sleep or just watch TV. This caused Donna to feel depressed and helpless. To make matters worse, their 15 year old son Anthony had just been arrested after being involved with drugs involving some of the neighborhood teenagers. He had been spiraling out of control since hanging out with a rough crowd. The matter of selling the home was now urgent. 
With only a small amount of equity in the home, escrow then closed, and Barry and Donna began to rent an apartment that a family member owned at a highly discounted rate in Glendale, California. Although their son Anthony improved a bit in who he was hanging out with, and in his behavior,in 2008 the recession hit hard and Barry's contractor business completely failed, causing him to go into a severe depression. Some days Barry found that he could not even get out of bed. He felt worthless not being able to provide for his family, and was unable to communicate with them positively. Donna now had to take on three difficult jobs as a waitress, cleaning lady and crossing guard just to pay the rent and feed the family.
Six years later in 2013, matters had not improved. Barry and Donna were still living in the same apartment, and their son Anthony now wanted to go to college at California State University Northridge. Unfortunately there was no extra money to send him there. The entire family felt hopeless, sad and deflated. However, Donna had an inner feeling of hope and promise.
On July 4, 2013 Donna had the urge to buy scratch-off lottery tickets at a local convenience store. She borrowed a quarter so that she would have the $2.00 needed to buy two tickets. When she scratched them off she discovered she had won $10.00. 
She went back into the store and purchased a special $10.00 “Golden ticket”. Before scratching it she prayed with faith to give her family a house once again. When she scratched it she was overwhelmed to discover she had won $77,000.
She rushed home excited, to show her family, and her sister happened to be at the apartment. Her sister grabbed the ticket out of Donna’s hand and realized that Donna hadn’t scratched the entire number away. Her sister started to cry huge tears of joy, shouting to Donna that she had actually won $777,000! Barry and Anthony ran out of their rooms bug eyed, realizing that indeed, Anthony would go to college and they would buy their dream home.
As Donna's former Realtor, I had kept in contact with them over the years. On that same July 4 day she called me to make an appointment to come to her Glendale apartment to discuss buying a house. She did not tell me at that time about her big win, but she did sound thrilled. Three days later we met. They showed me photos of her big win at the convenience store, and had already received a letter from the California State Lottery Board telling her that she would receive her funds in 4 to 6 weeks. We immediately began looking at homes. In a short time we found an extremely nice one with a pool and gorgeous yard not far from California State University Northridge where Anthony would now be attending. We used the letter from the California Lottery Board to prove the buyers' funds to the seller. By the end of July the real check had arrived, and by mid-August (1 1/2 months from the big win) Barry and Donna were in the completely paid for dream home. As soon as they had called me, Barry felt huge weights lifted off of him, and his depression ended. He made plans with a good friend to open a new business.
Miracles do happen. God does answer prayers....Many times there are happy endings....JUST BELIEVE!

Life Changes - By Kim Somers Egelsee & Mike Somers

CHAPTER #11: LIFE CHANGES 

- Excerpt from upcoming book by Kim Somers Egelsee and her dad Mike Somers

It was a beautiful sunny morning. 78 year old Lou waved to his neighbor as he picked up the morning paper.

Once inside he poured himself a hot cup of coffee and thought about the tasks he planned to complete this day. Lou had settled nicely into retired life after spending 39 years as a top psychologist. He still worked part-time helping his wonderful wife who he had been married to for over fifty years, Jeanne plan tours for her travel agency which she had run for more than 40 years. In the early years of Lou's business, Jeanne once asked him for assistance with setting up a tour to Africa. Lou balked at first, worrying about a lengthy absence affecting his psychology practice. Jeanne chimed in that either Lou was going, or she would get someone else to go with her. This was an important lesson for Lou of keeping the balance in his life. Jeanne won, and Lou accompanied her on the trip of his life, with many more to follow.

Lou had now been reading the paper and drinking his coffee for over 1 1/2 hours. He wondered why Jeanne had not gotten up yet and joined him. When he went in to check on her he could sense something was terribly wrong. Jeanne was completely unresponsive. Lou called 911 and a paramedic team responded. Jeanne had suffered a major stroke, never to be the same again. Despite doctors giving Lou very little hope for Jeanne's improvement, Lou wanted the very best for the love of his life. He had Jeanne admitted to a local assisted living facility with a medical staff that specialized in stroke victims. The cost of this treatment was over $9,000 per month.

To make sure he had enough funds to indefinitely pay for this care, Lou decided to sell his rental house where he had close to $400,000 in equity. This was certainly not what Lou wanted, but he knew it was necessary. We both knew this would be a tough sale. The house was located on a busy street and the market was going through a major slow down.

Three weeks into the listing, we had only one showing. We had also done three open houses with dismal results.

Then an amazing thing happened. At the time, every Sunday we would visit my wife Nancy's elderly dad Ben, and have dinner with him. He was now alone, and welcomed our company and meal together. He always ate well when we brought the food. I really don't think he was eating much at all during the rest of the week. That afternoon I bought him a CD set of old Christian spirituals sung by old-time country greats like Eddy Arnold and Tennessee Ernie Ford. That night we played those songs, and for about an hour Ben was the happiest I had seen him in years. We discussed the home with him, and the three of us said a little prayer for Lou, Jeanne and the sale of their home. We came home feeling uplifted and joyful energy.

When I walked in the door our phone immediately rang. A man claiming to be a doctor announced that he wanted to buy Lou's busy street home for "full price all cash". No one would make such a declaration so I was skeptical. At that time cash offers were extremely rare. I asked the doctor if he had actually seen the house, and he responded "No” but he was sure he wanted it. I arranged to meet him the next day to see the home. I told him that we would need his proof of funds to submit an offer. The doctor arrived on schedule with proof of funds for $7 million dollars!! The sale went through without a hitch and closed escrow in just 7 days. It was truly the strangest and smoothest transaction ever. I truly believe it was a gift from God.

Lou now had the money he needed to assure that Jeanne would get the best care possible. For the next year Jeanne did progress well. Lou visited her daily and spent a lot of quality time with her. Sadly, at the one year point she suffered another stroke which took her life. Lou knew in his heart that he had given her all of the love and care that were humanly possible. One year after her passing Lou set up one last African tour in her honor and memory. He had a great time...