When mom and dad moved closer to aunt Janet, they had to get a new house.
It was new to us, but it was an older house. We were several doors away from aunt Janet, but the property was much older. I was shocked at how beat up it was inside, but dad and mom said we would only stay for 3 months, or until they could talk aunt Janet into moving back home with us. Uncle Steve had passed away over the summer, and my parents didn’t want aunt Janet living alone through the winter. The first thing they did was have an Heating & A/C expert look at the Heating & A/C unit in the house. After a cursory inspection, the Heating & A/C expert told them good luck with the furnace. I asked my parents what he meant by that, and dad told me the furnace was for burning wood or coal. There was no way to use it with heating fuel, and the heat was all gravity fed. I wanted to know if it was a safe oil furnace, and mom said yup! The HVAC expert also told them that unless you had a great source of wood, it would be a lot of work and money to keep enough wood around to heat the old house. I asked if they expected to be in the house over winter, and mom said she hoped not. We all love aunt Janet and knew she could be stubborn, however we hoped this time she would just agree to come home with us. Mom was right about her being stubborn, but her hopes were for naught. Aunt Janet dug her heels in, and she refused to leave. We had to use that rugged furnace for the entire winter until aunt Janet said she was ready to leave her with us.