Two days after my parents put my childhood home on the market, somebody made them an offer, and they accepted. I think they were kinda shocked. Everybody else in their neighborhood has had a hard time selling; in that part of metro Detroit, it’s not uncommon to have to wait three or four or more months for a buyer. Until now, my dad has seemed convinced that they’d be lucky to be out by Thanksgiving.

Guess I better plan that last trip home pretty quick.

Seven Days’ deputy publisher and co-owner Cathy Resmer is a writer, editor and advocate for local journalism. She works in the paper’s Burlington office and lives vicariously through the reporters while raising money to pay them. Cathy started at Seven Days as a freelance writer in 2001 and still has the Rolodex to prove it. As the paper’s first online editor, she launched Seven Days email newsletters and started the paper’s first social media accounts. Cathy has overseen Kids VT, Vermont’s...