ST. PAUL, Minn. — A warm place to live may be taken for granted, but for a veteran taking over his family home, it’s a gift.
Bob Rymerson closed on his St. Paul home this summer. It had been in his family since 1918 and was the home that Rymerson grew up in.
“My wife and I just got married earlier this year, and now we have a whole other chapter to build with her kids and her side of the family, just trying to keep that tradition going,” he said.
Rymerson has fond memories of Christmas gatherings filled with music.
“All those memories are just warm memories in my heart,” he said.
But for the past few years, winters have been cold. Rymerson’s 24-year-old furnace broke and the air conditioner went out too.
“I had some problems returning to the workforce and the civilian environment after I was in the Marine Corps,” he said.
He served four years in the Marines before he suffered an injury. He went on to struggle with legal troubles and addiction.