Our first home was a small little spot in the middle of nowhere we had the quiet visits of deer, moose, and the occasional bear. It was the perfect beginning to our young little family. Two bedrooms seemed spacious enough for three but with the arrival of our second child I was ready to move into town.I wanted to enjoy the luxury of spacious and convenient living. 
Sadly, due to an undesirable location for the rest of the planet, two bedrooms, and a bear trap in the front yard had made our little love nest an inconvenience to sell. That is until my superstitious mother stepped in with a solution.
She handed me a statue of the Patron Saint Joseph.
“My friend told me to bury this in your backyard and your house will sell quicker.”
I looked at her sleep deprived and wondering what she was holding, “What? What is that?”
“It’s the Patron Saint Joseph. Just bury it in the yard.”
I took it and buried it in the cupboard. Completely forgetting of its existence until her next visit. She found it in the back of my cupboard searching for the tea.
“You didn’t bury this yet?”
“No! No! I didn’t!”
She looked at me, “Humph! No wonder your house will never sell!”
It’s with that I sighed and grabbed my darling three-year old to teach him a lesson in superstitions. We walked out the backdoor with one Hail Mary we took sweet Joseph and buried him deep into the recesses of the ground.
It was at this point in my life I had two little ones under the age of three, a husband on the road for work, and a need of a weekly break to regain some form of sanity. My babysitter was a saving grace, a saint, the one rescue from the toils of spit and soiled diapers.
It was one afternoon I came home from a glorious afternoon of peace and coffee to discover my babysitter had dug out dear Saint Joseph from the backyard.
“We were playing in the backyard. Your son just started digging and kept saying he was looking for his buried treasure. Where did it come from?”
As she held the dear Saint Joseph in her hand with a perplexed look on her face – all I could do was lie. Yes! I lied out of fear of losing my babysitter! How would you react to a poorly dress woman with black circles under her eyes admitting “Yes! I did bury Saint Joseph in my back yard in order for my home to sell!”
It was with wise maneuvering and fear of judgement I did not come clean. Instead I looked at the statue, I looked at my sitter’s angelic and inquisitive face and replied , “I have no idea where that came from – Isn’t that bizarre!”
It was with that my babysitter left my home befuddled with so many questions on her mind…
Have you ever fibbed out of fear of judgement?
I love this….. I would have probably fibbed to, but cant think now….But big question, did you bury it again? I probably would have!
Chuckles! Of course I did! I needed the place to sell
I love this entry on so many fronts! I wish I could buy that house, frankly. Not sure where we’d put it (or, alternatively, about the commute from L.A.–ahem!), but I love the thought nevertheless.
I’m almost certain I’ve done this, but I can’t think of an example! If I do, I’ll come back and share it.
It was a very low price considered to LA standards but then there is the commute and the summertime mosquitoes. You do have to comeback and share because I don’t want to be the only one
Thats a great story. I think you handled it well and the fibbing is more than excusable in the circumstances. I’m sure I would have done the same.
I couldn’t confess! I just couldn’t! The funniest part is she was one of my sisters students and she told the whole class next day about this odd statue found in the backyard. I was so relieved I didn’t confess…
Haha that’s hilarious! I’ve never really buried anything like that before lol!
Chuckles! Don’t speak to soon! Wait until your Mom starts giving you crazy statues
Fibbed out of judgment? Undoubtedly, but nothing comes to mind.
However, when we moved from Houston to Tucson and needed to sell our pricey town home quickly, my sweetie who had long renounced anything to do with Catholicism, told me about burying St. Joseph. I duly went to the nearest large parish church and asked for a small figure. The church lady immediately knew what this was for and pulled out a discrete, plastic figurine – perfect for the pot my lemon tree was planted in. (It was hard to do since it looked just like Jesus, and hey, I grew up Protestant!)
I don’t know if it helped, but when our house sold, the lemon tree went to our wonderful housekeeper Maria (a very religious woman) who will be much surprised if she ever re-pots the tree.
Yay! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who has ever done this! Maria will be surprised and will probably refer to it as her blessed tree
How long after St. Joseph was buried did your house sell?
Nancy
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Chuckles! A while…
I’ve heard of burying St. Joseph to sell a house, but I’ve heard of burying him upside down. What difference that makes, I have no idea.
To fib or not to fib… Fibbing to prevent yourself from seeming insane is perfectly valid. If anyone tells you they haven’t, they’re fibbing.
Hahaha! Good to know! I’m not the only fibber
Wouldn’t it be bad luck to bury him upside down? I think he might get grabby laying upside down…
Have I lied to avoid judgement? Oh, yes. Especially when I was a brand new parent and felt like the entire world was judging me. I can’t even remember the specific fibs, probably because there were so many of them (*shudders*). Older and wiser, I care a whole lot less what other people thing of me. Now, I only lie to my husband about “taking it easy” at the gym (hahaha).
BTW – We’re selling our house next year, I think. Did the St. Joseph trick work?
Chuckles! I can only imagine how hard you do work at the gym – super mom
The sales forecast seems bright and sunny for next year. You might not need St. Joseph if we are on the verge of another boom.
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I’d say the evidence has me here.
Chuckles!
OK, next time I want to sell my home, I will try the same trick. Who knows, maybe it can help me to sell it for a higher price even!
Heck, in Houston, even the Protestants and Jews bury St. Joseph – the market’s that bad. But he should be upside down, for sure. I’m not up on the reason, but everyone says so. My last friend who tried the trick had her condo on the market for two years – a few months after St. Joe went into the ground, she was on her way to Indiana.
As for lying to avoid judgement – yes! Except I can’t remember exactly what I lied about. I just know that when I was in grade school, I often would tell lies to my mom to make her happy. Often the issues weren’t important at all – “Do you like your new dress?” That sort of thing. Eventually, I got a little more confident and discovered she (mostly) could handle the truth.
I’ll have to remember this and bury him upside down on our next sale. It just feels wrong….
Moms are made of tough stuff or at least their children make them tough
My friend, who couldn’t sell her house either, buried a saint statue in her yard also. I thought it was St Anthony. Anyway, her house sold also. St Anthony is the saint you pray to when you have lost something and need to find it. Good luck on the sale.
Hahaha! My Nana would always tell me to pray to St. Anthony whenever I lost my glasses! I wonder if you used both if you get a double whammie in home sales!
We buried St Joseph and prayed like crazy…didn’t work…go ahead and delete this…it’s a bunch of hooha…lots of desparate people are relying on this crap…it does not work. Hookus Pookus…I put a big fat hex on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
LOL! I’m not concerned my good luck voodoo doll retracts all hexes! MUh wa ha ha!