My Community | December 2023

Dear Friends,

The past few months I have been thinking about what it means to be in community. Even the Bible says that God created us to be in community - that we are created to live life together. I’ve been thinking about this because as hurried and busy life is, I’ve questioned whether or not I have “true community.”

Well, I’ve come to the realization that I DO have community and, although it may not look like what others define or view as community, it is, nevertheless, MY community.

I’m sure many of you think that all I do is help people buy and sell homes. Although there is truth to that, for me, it is SO MUCH MORE! More often than not, my clients become my friends.

For a few months I had been a little sad thinking that I didn’t have what I thought was “true community.” In my “ideal world”, community means friends that you live day to day life with - our kids grow up together, we hang out and go on vacations together, spend our weekends and holidays together. Don’t get me wrong, I do have those friends, however, because of distance and different seasons of life, we don’t live “day to day” lives together, if that makes sense?

A few years ago I even asked God to help me find community and I remember Him saying to me, “Be the community to others that you want for yourself.” So, I set out to do just that. It wasn’t difficult, really.

My clients, my colleagues, and my vendors have, sincerely, become my community. And just this past weekend the truth of that became so apparent. We are all busy and, oftentimes, it is challenging to sync schedules with the ones we’re closest to. My business, however, has allowed me to meet the most incredible people on the planet that have become my community.

Beyond buying & selling a home, my clients, my friends, have shared their hearts and their lives with me. In fact, there are a handful of people I’ve met cold calling or door knocking in a neighborhood or even met at an open house who have never done business with me and yet we’ve become friends. I have watched their families grow and, even well beyond the transaction ending, they have shared pictures of their children with me, they have invited me to birthday parties, anniversaries and even funerals. I have laughed with my clients, I have cried with my clients and I have prayed with and for my clients. I have brought meals to my clients in their time of need and, in turn, they have sent me thoughtful gifts, some hand made. :-) Some of my clients I introduced to other agents as they planned to move out of the Bay Area and, still, they remain my friends. We have volunteered together, donated blood together, shared meals together, celebrated successes in each other's lives, supported & encouraged one another and some I have even visited in the hospital. I have clients who have come to watch my son’s baseball games, a client who mails me a card every month and another that I visit regularly just to play Scrabble!

When I said the realization of having community became apparent to me this past weekend is because I had two clients tell me how much they appreciated me and how thankful they were that they found me! One client is someone I helped over 3 years ago and they sent me an unexpected and thoughtful journal from one of my favorite authors. They knew the perfect gift to send me because they have taken the time to get to know me. Thank you all for allowing me to know you and for taking the time to be known by you

I absolutely love helping people with their real estate needs, however, more important than that, it is the friendships that are formed through it that I will forever hold near and dear to my heart. My clients, my colleagues & my vendors are my friends, my tribe, my community. I hope each and every one of you reads this letter. In the tapestry of life you have made mine vibrant, rich, diverse and meaningful. My cup, truly, overflows with the gift and blessing of calling you my friends. Thank you all for not only entrusting me to help you with your homes, thank you for being my community.

Blessed and grateful beyond measure,

Rica