Dreams Come True: Book 1

By Don Hobbs

This is a story about a young man who inherits an enormous fortune when his family is killed in a plane crash. While he is debating with himself about how to use or spend the money, he heard a news article on the television that described the plight of the homeless in his community. With that as the impetus, he decided to use his money to build homes for the homeless. He ends up creating an entire community, complete with homes, hotels, restaurants, stores, strip malls, a truck stop, and numerous other essential elements that are included in every community, such as parks and playgrounds for the families and kids that inhabit the community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664154438

Don Hobbs

Don Hobbs is a seventy-six-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War from the 1960s. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1944, while in the Air Force, he met his wife Mary in San Antonio, Texas. Father of two children, Mark and Melissa, he has lived in Texas since 1969, after he was discharged from the service. While he has compiled and edited several books about family members of note, for the benefit of his children and grandchildren to give them a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, this is his first venture into the realm of fiction.

Book preview

THE BEGINNING

When Paul’s parents and siblings died in a plane crash, he became instantly wealthy. He was in a quandary about the money, what to do with it, how to spend it, how much to give to charity, and other things like that. This is a story about what he decided to do, and it was all because of a news article he heard on the ‘always on’ television. Paul had always been a dreamer. He dreamed of doing big things in his life. Things that would, to a certain extent, change the world around him. The news story about the homeless in the city gave him the impetus he needed.

My name is Paul Briggs. My parents were very wealthy and Dad even had his own airplane. There was a plane crash. I was the only one left of my family. Dad, Mother, brother, sister all gone, I was the only one of my immediate family left alive. Of course, I have lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, but basically I was alone in the world at the age of 28.

CHAPTER 1

INHERITANCE

I received in the will the entire estate of my parents, which included $5 billion in stock in various companies and industries, $450 million in cash, $1 billion in savings, the house which had 18 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms. It also included 50,000 acres of grass and woodlands around the house, and of course the furnishings of the house. We had such a large house because it was the place where holidays happened, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, reunions, and large birthday parties, and funerals.

I knew we were rich, but I had no idea of how rich we really were. I was astounded by the amount of cash and other assets that my parents possessed. The house was full this time for a funeral, in fact four of them, for my departed family. While the relatives were there they were very solicitous about my welfare, and were constantly trying to help me with something, when I needed only to be left alone. I think what they really wanted was to know how much money I got in the will, and how they might get their grimy hands on some of it. I was anxious for them to all leave, so I could be alone and think.

I also received payment from the insurance company from the policies my parents had. I received from my dads policy $100 million, from my mothers policy I received $50 million, my brothers policy paid $25 million as did my sisters policy.

CHAPTER 2

FIRST STEPS – A

FOUNDATION

A s I was trying to get my head around the financial situation a few days later, I half heard a story on the ‘always-on’ television in the family room of the house. The story was about the homeless situation in our town and across the nation. There was not much I could do about the national problem, but there was a great deal that I could do about the local situation.

That afternoon I went to see our family attorney, Mark Clements. The purpose of my visit was to explain that I wanted to do something for the homeless in our general neighborhood. God knows I could not spend the fortune I had inherited in 10 lifetimes, and I asked Mark how I should proceed.

Mark said, ‘Before you do anything else, you need to set up a non-profit foundation through which all funds will be channeled and all expenses paid. Any escrow account you need to set up will be funded by the foundation.’ He asked how much I wanted to initially put in the foundation, and I told him to fund the foundation with the entire amount of the savings account I had inherited, $1 billion. I told him my ideas about the community I wanted to build for the homeless, as well as my bigger dream of having in the town a large park, a bank, a school and a nursery school, a church with a cemetery, a grocery store and a medical clinic.

Mark also said that I needed to get the property surveyed and a plat map drawn up, showing where the streets would be, the parks, the church, the school, the clinic and anything else I wanted to include in the new community. He recommended a contractor who could act as a general contractor to supervise the construction of the project. Mark had been a visitor in our home many times and he knew we had a large party room on the first floor, and he suggested it would be a perfect place to have the general contractor and all of the sub-contractors to work from, until a separate building could be constructed.

CHAPTER 3

THE CONTRACTOR

N ext, I went to find the recommended contractor and tell him of my dream. After telling him of my plans, he said, ‘I will handle the surveying and also will get the plat map drawn up, if you will tell me approximately where you want the various buildings placed’. He also said he would need a substantial amount placed in an escrow account that he could draw from for expenses, and salaries for his workers. We went to the bank, and I put $20 million in an escrow account for him. As we walked out of the bank, Wayne said, ‘I have some things in my office I want to show you. Do you have time now?’

I said, ‘Yes’, and when we got to his office he pulled some blueprints from a cabinet, and spread them out on a large table. ‘These are the plans for some houses I have built in the past. I wanted to show them to you, so you could determine if they will be suitable for the houses you want to build. If I can use them it will significantly lower the cost of construction, and at the same time will make things go a little quicker since I have built them before. I know you are not overly concerned with the cost, but I am. I want to always do the best job, for the best price, for all my clients. Do you think these plans will be adequate for the houses you want built?’

‘I think they will be perfect. Do you have any blueprints for a larger home, say 5 or 6 bedrooms?’

‘I do, and they can be built along with these houses, scattered all around the sub-division of homes.’

Wayne then said, ‘I will contact the electric company about having them run wires to the houses, and also the city about having sewer lines run down the streets with a connection to each house. The alternative is to put each building on a septic system. I prefer to have them connected to a sewer system, but I will cost it out both ways, and let you know.’

I said, ‘I prefer the sewer system also, and the difference in cost should be negligible, so put all the houses and any other buildings we construct on the sewer.’

I told him I also wanted a nice hotel and restaurant on the property, and asked if he could handle the construction. His response was that he could, but with all the projects I had already given him it would be better to contact a small hotel chain, and ask them to put in a hotel near the highway.

‘Are we still working on the three month schedule, or does the number of projects mean it will take longer?’

‘We are still on the three month schedule for now, however if you keep adding projects to my list, it may have to stretch to four months.’

CHAPTER 4

THREE MONTHS LATER

W hen the streets were in, the utilities roughed in, the water and the sewer lines run to each residence, I again went to see Mark. I asked him to draw up 100 leases for the residents.

He laughed and said, ‘Paul, I will need to hire a paralegal and at least two secretaries just to handle your business. I know for you it is not a matter of money, but, I have a small law firm, and money does matter to me. I will need a pretty substantial retainer if I am going to continue your work’.

I said, ‘Mark, how many clients do you have that come to your office rather than doing business on the internet or by e-mail? The reason