Well, let me tell ya ’bout this Cerda family, the ones on that TV show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” You know, the one where they fix up houses for folks? Yeah, that one.
The Cerdas, they had it rough. Two little girls, Molly and Maggie, sick as can be. Something wrong with their immune systems, the doctors said. And wouldn’t ya know it, their house in Las Vegas, it was makin’ ’em worse. Mold, they said. Nasty stuff, mold. Gets everywhere, like them weeds in my garden.
So, this TV show, they come along in 2009, and they build these folks a brand new house. Imagine that! A whole new house! Must’ve been somethin’ to see. All them workers, hammerin’ and sawin’, day and night. Like a bunch of busy beavers, they were. I tell ya, it takes a village to raise a barn, and it sure took a whole heap of folks to build that house.
Over a thousand volunteers, they say. And big companies too, pitchin’ in. That Preston City Road place, it must’ve been crawlin’ with people. And they built it fast, real fast. Like magic, almost. One day, the Cerdas got a sick ol’ house, next day, bam! A shiny new one. Must’ve felt like winnin’ the lottery, I reckon.
But life ain’t always a bed of roses, is it? Heard tell there was some trouble later on. Court stuff, up in Oregon. Something ’bout the parents, I think. Judge lady, she said the daddy was alright, but the mama… well, I ain’t one to gossip, but somethin’ wasn’t right there, see?
Then, those TV folks, they came back around. The news people, I mean. Back to Vegas, askin’ the neighbors all sorts of questions. Nosy as a bunch of hens, they were. Always pokin’ their noses where they don’t belong. But that’s their job, I guess, stirrin’ up trouble and whatnot.
It makes ya think, don’t it? All that fuss, all that money, all that work… for what? A family gets a new house, that’s good. But then, trouble comes along anyway. Guess a fancy house don’t fix everything, huh? Just like puttin’ lipstick on a pig, as my old man used to say.
Makes me think of them other families on that show too. Like that Byers family over in Corvallis. Lost their little girl, Boey, to cancer. And now they’re stuck with big bills. Or that Girard family, lost their daddy and son in the water. Poor things. Life just ain’t fair sometimes, is it? You can get a new house, but it won’t bring back the ones you lost, or fix a broken heart.
And then there’s that Novak family. Movin’ to South Carolina, they are. Said they learned a lot in Oklahoma. Well, I reckon everyone learns somethin’ wherever they go. Life’s a teacher, ain’t it? Even if the lessons ain’t always easy.
So, the Cerdas, they got their house. But it ain’t the end of the story, is it? Life goes on, with its ups and downs. And sometimes, a new house is just a new house. It don’t magically make everything perfect. That’s just the way it is, I suppose. You gotta take the good with the bad, and keep on keepin’ on. Just like plantin’ a garden, you gotta pull the weeds along with the flowers, right?
I hope them little girls, Molly and Maggie, I hope they’re doin’ alright. And the rest of the Cerdas too. Life’s a tough row to hoe, but you just gotta keep on hoppin’. That’s all any of us can do, ain’t it?
Tags: [Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Cerda Family, Las Vegas, Molly Cerda, Maggie Cerda, Home Renovation, Reality TV, Family, Oregon, Court Case]
