Maggie smiled and said, “Oh, thank you, Mama!”

We went through the pie pretty fast and finally the big moment arrived.

Mama, reaching for her bag, started the conversation.

Dumping the contents of the bag on the table, Mama picked up an old document from the several that lay there. She handed it to me. It was an old mortgage from 1921 that showed the house being sold for $25,000. Mama explained as I was reading the document, “That was my daddy’s mortgage from his daddy, my grandfather, who paid cash for the house in the late 1800s! The house, it’s been paid for since I was a girl.”

“Well, it’s worth a lot more now, Mama. Maggie, show Mama the appraisal,” I said.

Maggie slid a legal-size envelope over to Mama.

“We’re wanting to offer you the full appraised value, Mama,” I said.

Mama pulled out a pair of reading glasses and as she looked at the appraisal she said, “Jimmy, come over here. I can’t make heads or tails of all this!”

I sat next to Mama and read from the appraisal to her. “The appraised value of your home is $375,000, Mama.”