On May 20, 2019, that part of the Braden Family life that involved 2706 Sablewood Drive came to an end as the property was sold.

The Beginnings:

In 1988 Jay was reassigned from the 130th Engineer Brigade in Hanau, Germany to US Central Command in Tampa, Florida.

After about six weeks of house hunting, the Bradens purchased a home on Brianholly Drive in Buckhorn Estates in Valrico, east of Tampa. For three years Jay commuted daily into USCENTCOM (actually SOCCENT for the first nine months) and returned to the Braden Family Home where the family was active in church, school, and recreational sports activities. During this time Jay deployed to Saudi Arabia for about nine months to serve in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm as the USCENTCOM Engineer.

In 1992 Jay was reassigned to Fort Eustis, Virginia, and - four years later - retired from the Army having served over 29 years. The goal of the family was to return to Tampa where daughters Sandra and Karen had made their home, but the best Jay was able to do was to get hired by Florida State University so Jay and Bonnie and daughter Anne and son Robert lived in Tallahassee from 1996 through 2001. (At this time Anne graduated from high school and began to attend FSU and Robert graduated from high school and began to attend Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)).

After five years at FSU the Bradens moved back into the Brianholly Drive home that had been rented in their absence, and Jay commuted 59 miles each way daily for 12 years while he worked for Stetson University at its center in the town of Celebration.

The Move to Sablewood Drive:

About two years into the family’s return to Buckhorn Estates, a situation arose that Bonnie’s mother might be moving in with them and so a larger home might be needed. Sandra happened to see a home on Sablewood Drive in the same community that was offered for sale and it was purchased. The home, at 2688 square feet, was on the Buckhorn Golf and Country Club’s 17th fairway, had four bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, an office, a formal living room and a formal dining room, a screened-in pool with a spa and a sauna, a nice size covered lanai, and a two car garage. The old home on Brianholly was sold at a good price and so the transition to a much larger home was made. There were some initial expenses involved with adding a heater for the spa and doing some remodeling of Robert’s room, but the transition was smooth and not that expensive.

During this time Jay assisted the Buckhorn Estates Homeowners Association by maintaining its Website and, later, by also managing its Constant Contact e-mail communications system. He did that for then entire time he lived on Sablewood Drive.

Over the years there were some upgrades made to three of the bathrooms, the kitchen, the bedroom rugs, the flooring, and the closets. The exterior and interior of the house had been recently painted, and a new roof had been installed just four months before.

This was the Braden home, and - in a sense - it always will be, though the Bradens no longer live there.

The Home Sale:

The decision to sell the home was not that difficult, because it was the right decision for that time. The process of selling the home, however, was incredibly hard. The house held 50 years of memories, and - in the attic - enough Christmas decorations to light up a small community. The emotional side was very difficult. The house still had “Bonnie” all over it. Her clothes and jewelry and other personal items had been largely untouched for four years.

Karen, Sandra, Anne, and Robert came to help pack and sort, and to take whatever items they wanted, but they all had households already so what they took - except for Robert taking the wave runner - hardly made a dent in the pile. There were numerous trips to the Goodwill drop off point, a visit by Salvation Army for furniture, items left on the curb for anyone driving by, and some perfectly good things simply thrown away because there was no more energy at the time for another Goodwill run.

Jay got a great Realtor who was a long time friend of his daughter Karen, and she was enthusiastic, professional, motivated, and did a number of “above and beyond the call of duty” tasks to help get the home sold.

But the home didn’t sell. With the wisdom of hindsight, there were two factors that kept the home on the market. First, the price was set too high, thinking and hoping there was a buyer “out there” who just had to have a 4+ bedroom Florida home with a pool and spa on a golf course. And the money that was spent on a new roof should have been spent on remodeling the master bath. If the buyer loves the master bath then the house is sold and the roof becomes a detail to be dealt with. If the roof is brand new and the master bath shows its age, buyers are not interested.

So the selling process took eight months, during which time the lawn had to be mowed, electricity and water bills had to be paid, property taxes continued, and the pool had to be cared for.

But eventually there was a buyer who evidently loved the home and the rest was just details - details that often kept Jay awake at night but still details.

And so goodbye to a home where Jay and Bonnie lived for 12 years, a home that hosted family get togethers, pool parties, baby showers, Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, birthday celebrations, and a panoply of other good times.

We’ll miss you, 2706 Sablewood Drive.