My Shortest Notary Tale

Upon receiving financial assignments, I never knew what adventures or tales would await! One day I am entering a tree-lined ornate $30 million mansion. The following day, I walked up dilapidated cement steps. At this very moment, I am standing in front of a nondescript apartment building. The borrowers/characters/personalities are always a guessing game. The common denominator is everyone has stories to tell. Most are welcoming me with open arms. The dollars are following from the refinancing. As a corporate salesman, I am a chameleon-feeding off the personalities and the sensitivities of the individuals I meet at the closing table.

Nothing prepared me for what would be unfolding under my eyes today!

Consequently — -Surprise Surprise

Upon knocking on a brown door, Carol Petry answered me with a pleasant hello. Immediately, I was dumbstruck! There was a rubbish sale before my eyes, standing tall and wide by my feet! The piling of anything and everything was covering the room floor to ceiling.

Pictures Paint the Picture

After that, as I adjusted my vision, the sweet disheveled woman led me into her bedroom. As I walked, I was amazed by the colorful and chaotic home. Her husband Fred was lying in bed with prescription bottles all over and under the covers. Every time Fred moved his legs in bed, papers and everything else kept falling onto the floor. Carol and Fred stayed in the moment, never responding to the sounds of the moving litter.

Under the circumstances and melodrama, this sweet couple was business as usual. They kept offering me coffee and anything else to drink.

Carol was an actual real-life waitress at an Italian restaurant. She told me how she was working 40–50 hours a week. Additionally, she was the caretaker of a bedridden husband. Yet, this 73-year-old gray-haired kind woman never once complained! Unfortunately, Carol’s surroundings and life did not offer her any happiness. Yet, Carol always had a widening smile and a shining face.

Fred kept mumbling and burping all at the same time. Carol directed the signing as she took her husband’s hand to show him where to mark the documents.

True love and devotion were displayed, with all their material goods splattered everywhere.

Upon finishing the paperwork, the couple thanked me 1000 times. On top of everything, Carol stopped in her tracks and put $100 into my hand with a warm grip. Once again, I learned never to judge anyone by their material surroundings. We show our character and grit by our actions. Life is a poker game for sure. We never know the cards that are falling from the deck. This home was, in fact, a mansion; filled with simple love and simple smiles.

Thus, my shortest notary tale was one of the largest!

The Journey from World Trekking to Notary Trekking and the Life Lessons Learned. Reinvention, discovery, and keeping real.