Spring 2010 Featured Project
Remodelers Showcase Homeowners Share Their Thoughts
An Interrupted Dream
by Kathy Poepping
(2010 Parade of Homes Remodelers Showcase(SM) magazine — reprinted with permission.)
“Dreams” are a funny thing. All of us have them, of one kind or another. But many of us don’t realize how much they can change, when life happens, over time. When Ken and I married, now 27 years ago, we had the usual young married couple dreams…an active relationship with God, fulfilling careers, children, traveling, and of course our “dream” house.
We’ve been extremely fortunate as our dreams came true. Over the years our careers have brought us much joy and excitement. We’ve been blessed with two amazing children, Andrew now 15 and Michaela 12, both adopted from Korea. We’ve traveled both as a couple and with our children — creating memories that we know will last a lifetime. Our faith and relationship with God has never been stronger. And ten years ago, we built our dream house…but it wasn’t quite complete, as we left the basement unfinished, with yet again another “dream” to complete one day. Little did we know, at the time, how that “dream” would be altered.
During the Summer of 2005, we began planning and designing the basement remodel…as it had never been anything but a kid’s playroom and a place for storage. You can imagine the “mess” that an unfinished basement can be. Yet, that was okay and was certainly functional for our needs all those years. Our children were young, with low expectations of their “play” space. And for Ken and I, although storage was truly everywhere, that was ok too. It just wasn’t a priority yet… Much less in the budget.
But then the time came when we felt we were ready, both financially, and frankly emotionally, to take the plunge, and begin to make our dream a reality in our lives. Our search for a remodeler involved talking with just a few builders, but something about James Barton Design Build grabbed our interest. Their company’s vision, “Dream, Design, Build, Enjoy” spoke to us in ways we didn’t even realize at the time. This vision, their vision, would become so very meaningful in our life. We met with James Madsen and his design team, and began some planning. We were once again proceeding down the path of life that was exactly as we had hoped for when we first married.
And then our world came crashing to a halt, and our path in life made an extreme turn for which we in no way were prepared. Our then 10-year-old son Andrew, was diagnosed with Leukemia. Four simple words, “your son has cancer,” devastated and rocked our world to its core, changing our lives forever and all of our future dreams right along with it.
As one would expect, our first thoughts were of his (and frankly our family’s) survival, life expectancy, chemo, side effects, long-term effects, loss of hair, loss of everything we had known — he had known. And then, ok… Reality; what do we do, how do we save him, how do we get through this and back to a “normal” life!
In addition to learning more about the severity and type of Andrew’s cancer, treatment plans, etc., we were asked two simple questions. “Do you have a pet? And, do you have any construction going on in your home?” Strangely enough, we had been planning both — finishing our basement, and given our daughter Michaela’s passion for animals, searching for a puppy. We learned then that both would have to go on hold until four months after Andrew’s treatment was completed. Treatment that would last for over 3 years.
When your child is diagnosed with cancer, your priorities and perspective on life changes immensely. You realize very quickly what’s truly important in your family’s life. You cry, you get angry, you try to solve the problem, you barter with God, and then you realize, if your child, your family, has any chance of survival, you as parents have to begin the new “journey” and create a new “normal” in your life. Obviously the first, and most important part, is treatment and a cure for the disease. But then, it becomes clear that it’s even more than that. It's hope… Of getting back to what your life was, yet knowing that it all will be different.
I remember one late night in the hospital, early on… Ken and I were walking the halls, couldn’t sleep, burdened with intense worries and a feeling of strong helplessness — and it struck me (and I began to cry) that it wasn’t just changes in our son, daughter, us… but everything about our lives, dreams, future. Ken tried to console me with facts that our son would be a survivor.
My response, “I’m not crying about that (this time), it’s the basement — we can’t do it!” And then this overwhelming feeling of guilt hit me. Here lay my son, hooked up to IVs, chemo pouring into his body, an unknown future, and me… crying over an unfinished basement. We began to laugh almost hysterically. And looking back, that was our first step towards our family’s survival and discovery of that new “normal.” Strangely enough, our basement project would become the beginning of the end of a very tumultuous journey. And with the team at James Barton Design Build, we felt an immediate sense of comfort and confidence in their plans, not just for our basement, but for our family’s needs… Oddly enough, very similar to the way we had been cared for at Children’s Hospital.
James Barton Design Build not only finished a basement, they “rebuilt” our dream, and gave us back a very needed lesson… Life goes on… Oh yeah, and our puppy’s name is Rufus!
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