the weirdest thing that has EVER happened to me

We were at Annalee's preschool graduation, enjoying the yummy potluck.  The preschool director (also named Sandi) said how sad they were that we were moving and that Annalee wouldn't be back next year.  But they were happy for us getting a house. 

"Do you like your new house?" she asked Annalee. 

"Yeah!" she answered. 

"Tell her what color your room is," I said. 

"Purple!"

"Yeah, it's funny," I continued, "the whole house is really neutral, but this one room is purple.

Suddenly, Annalee's teacher interrupted.  "Which house did you get?"

I was a little confused by the question, which seemed to imply that I had discussed my choices with her before.  "Uh, it's in north Nampa...."

"What's the address?"

I told her.  Her lips pressed together in a tight line as she nodded her head miserably.  She burst into tears.  Then she ran away.

Oh my gosh!  We bought the house from an investor who (we assumed) had acquired it as short sale or foreclosure.  It made us a little sad to know that for us to get this house, someone had to lose it.  It made us very grateful for the obvious love and care the house and yard had been shown.  We had learned a few things from the neighbors about the original owners (they built the house 10 years ago, she loved gardening) but never in a MILLION years did I think I would ever meet them!

Eventually Miss Desiree calmed down and came back.  She loves plants, herbs, gardening.  She made homemade soaps out of the lavender she planted.  She dried herbs and wrote a column for the newspaper about them.  Her husband had built the playhouse for their daughter, who had many sleepovers there.  The purple bedroom had been her daughter's.  She had been through a divorce. She had to short-sale the house.  Her world fell down around her and every day was an emotional rollercoaster of wondering if it would ever end.

Poor lady!  That would be so, so hard.  She managed to smile by the end and said that if she had to lose her house she was glad that Annalee was going to live there and enjoy the purple bedroom.

Let me put this in perspective a little more.  There are over 81,000 people in Nampa--it is the second largest city in Idaho.  For the last 5 months, Annalee was being taught by the woman who owned the house we eventually bought.  A few weeks later Miss Desiree was moving to Alaska.  This was the last time we would see her.  And the only reason we found out the connection was because of a purple bedroom!

Weird...just weird.