From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American Life from Ira Glass.
So for months now, one of our producers, Ben Calhoun, has been working on one of the stories that starts small and simple and personal and then kind of spins out till a whole town is involved.
And I honestly don't want to say too much about this.
We should just let it unfold.
And so, without further ado, here's Ben.
Rob and Raina Mathis were doing something unusual for parents whose kids have mostly grown up and left home.
They were looking to upsize and get more space.
Their house wasn't small.
Five bedrooms on five acres.
But Reyna and Rob have a dozen kids, plus grandkids.
And even though most of their children are out of the house, they're the kind of parents adult kids want to spend time with.
And they had a vision.
A place with enough land that some of their children would build houses right by them.
By August 2019, they'd been house hunting for months with no luck.
And then one day, their realtor sent Raina a listing that looked promising.
So the Mathes drove out to see it in person on a sunny afternoon.
It was pretty far out in the country.
And went down a long dirt driveway back into the woods until they reached an enormous sprawling lawn.
Rob looked around.
I was preaching.