Under One Roof: Lessons I Learned from a Tough Old Woman in a Little Old House

Sometimes people aren't who you think they are.

Everyone knew what was going on in Ballard, Washington: developers were building a giant shopping mall, but a house belonging to a feisty octogenarian named Edith Wilson Macefield was in the way. They offered her a million dollars. She told them to take a hike.

Everyone knew that Barry Martin, head of the construction project, was involved in the push to get her out of the house so that the project could proceed without further delay.

Everyone was wrong.

When Barry took the job as construction supervisor for the shopping mall that was being erected around Edith's little house, he determined to make things as easy for her as he could. He didn't expect that she'd ask him to drive her to a hair appointment--but he did offer to help, after all. And it was in that one small gesture that an unlikely friendship was sparked, one that changed them both forever.

The story of Barry Martin and Edith Macefield is a tale of balance and compassion, of giving enough without giving too much, of helping our elderly loved ones through the tough times without taking away their dignity. In the end, Under One Roof is a tale of grace, and one from which all of us can take solace and strength. From Barry and Edith we have much to learn about love and letting go and, just possibly, about seeing through fading light to find great joy.

BARRY MARTIN has supervised construction projects all of his life, following in the footsteps of his father; and is a great lover of hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors, a love he inherited from his father as well. He is a native of Seattle, where he lives with his wife, two children, and new grandchild.

PHILIP LERMAN is a writer and producer in Washington, DC. He is the former national editor of USA Today and former co-executive producer of America’s Most Wanted.