I had two write two mock ups as an interview of sorts when I thought I was going to take a paid writing job for a magazine. The people are real, the names and story are not. I wrote it without ever visiting their home. 

Driving up a residential, slightly sloped, tree lined street, sprinklers whir behind black fences on immaculate lawns leading to large brick homes. You can picture the inhabitants: petite blonde women compensating with 4″ heels, rushing to get out the door, briefcases under their arm, packed with papers. Their husbands stand over the sink slurping the last dregs of coffee from a mug they got at their last conference with the Wall Steet Journal quartered in their hands. The house is quiet, apart from the clattering the missus makes on her way through the foyer, adjusting her scarf where it is tangled in an earring.

  But step inside THIS one, & you’ll find quite a different scenario.

  Meet the Millers. Hubert is an investment banker, & he’s sprawled across the polished hardwood in his sock feet playing with his daughter, Hazel. She’s a very proud two & a half. Don’t forget the half. The other little one is Magnolia, who’s busy modeling her brand new LL Bean backpack. It’s monogrammed, not for stature, but so it doesn’t get confused with anyone else’s. She shows it to me, all curls & smiles, cheeks dimpling as she says, “This is for Magnolia Beatrice Miller, but here it says Bean, & that’s what Mommy calls me.” I beam at Georgia, enraptured already by this little charming person. Georgia is their stay-at-home mother, who is cleaning up from breakfast & arranging supplies for paper mache. She’s petite & blonde, just like I figured, but has a wholesome quality about her that lets you know this is exactly what she lives to do.

  Hubert & Georgia met fourteen years ago, when they were both employed by Citizens National Bank. Hubert was a financial advisor, & Georgia was climbing the ladder, having started as a teller & was now the loan officer inside Kroger’s store branch in Sevierville. They dated, he proposed at sunset below a dormant volcano in Maui, they wed in the church her family has been members of since the 60’s, & she found out she was pregnant with their first daughter at the UT home opener in 2010. Georgia left the bank to take care of herself & prepare their home to welcome a baby. When the news came of their second daughter, it was time to expand residences. They relocated from her grandmothers quaint house in South Knoxville to an upscale subdivison in Rocky Hill. Hubert recently left the bank where he’d spent twenty two years & started his own firm, Crestpoint Wealth Management. “I wanted my time to be MY time,” he explains. “We are blessed to have friends who are clients that entrust me to handle their futures.” Hubert is enjoying the freedom that is indigenous when you run your own business. It comes with its own set of headaches, but as he reaches over to tickle Hazel’s belly, you are as sure as he is that this was the right move. He holds conferences & lunches monthly & is taking new clients. “I want people to understand money. It can be overwhelming when you need to make a large investment but want to plan for retirement. I get to know all my clients personally, that way I can better advise them.”

  We close our appointment on their back porch, watching the girls swing & play with Buster, their Boston terrier, while we sip sweet tea brewed that morning by Georgia & the sun. It’s accented with a sprig of mint. Everything is just right in this moment for the Millers. And they pray for many more days just like this.