The genie grants you a wish. What is it?
If a genie showed up and told me I could have one wish, I think I already know exactly what I’d ask for.
And okay, I guess this wish is technically a little bit for myself too, because I’d definitely benefit from it.
I’d wish for enough money to buy my mom the land she needs to have the family compound she’s always wanted.
And when I say family compound, I mean a BIG one.
My mom has always dreamed of having a big piece of land where my family, my sister’s family, my brother’s family, and my grandma could all live near each my mom—but not too near each other.
Like, we’re close enough to pop over for dinner, but not so close that everyone knows what everyone else is doing at all times.
She wants everyone to have their own house and their own space, but still be together. And honestly, I kind of love that idea.
She’s told us that if she ever had the money to do it, she’d put the whole property in a trust or something so that we could never sell it. It would just stay in the family. No one could decide 30 years from now that they want to cash out and sell their little piece of the family compound. Nope. It stays ours.
And I think what I love most about her dream is that it’s not really about having a bunch of land.
It’s about having a place where all of us always have somewhere to go.
Her dream is that we wouldn’t have to spend our entire lives working just to afford to live. We’d work enough to pay the utilities, our phones, and whatever else we actually needed, but we wouldn’t have to be constantly stressed about paying for a mortgage or rent or keeping up with the cost of living.
We’d just…live.
We’d have our own homes, our family nearby, our grandma close, and enough space that we wouldn’t drive each other completely insane.
And honestly, if I could give my mom anything in the world, I think that’s what I’d give her.
Not a mansion. Not a fancy car. Not some ridiculous amount of money just because I could.
I’d give her the land.
I’d give her the family compound she’s been dreaming about for years, and I’d make sure it stayed in the family forever.
Because if a genie is giving me one wish, I might as well use it on something that would make all of us happy.
And okay, maybe a little bit selfishly happy too.
