For several years now, I have been a firm believer that with every challenge there is opportunity and the challenges that eventually led me to homeownership were wrought with it. To note past history and cite examples of humble beginnings when my family was poor or when I put myself through college were challenging but they did not almost end my dream of homeownership. Instead, working for almost every year I’ve been alive, learning the English language, and my family’s hardiness seem to have developed enough perseverance in me to always move forward.

There were two primary challenges that came dangerously close to stopping me on the road to homeownership. A short while before the closing on my first and only dream home was to take place, an individual with no insurance and in a large SUV ran a red light and almost sent me on a cruise towards non-existence. My vehicle did not survive, but thankfully I did and after substantial medication, medical attention, and physical therapy I was still able to make the closing. I continue to go to physical therapy so that I may continue to improve and am thoroughly ecstatic by the fact that I am no longer well medicated. Shortly after the accident, and also just before the closing, the love of my life and spouse of ten years went away with a fellow colleague–never to come back. Getting through the trauma of the accident and the disheartening loss of a loved one at almost the same time was almost too much to bear. With the help of family and friends, I steadily continued to piece my new life together-a fragile minute at a time–and eventually made it to the closing.

That is how my dream of homeownership materialized and if this dream had been free of challenges I do not think I would be as happy and appreciative as I am now. The opportunity to start a new life, in a new dream home, may not have been possible without these challenges that presented themselves.