She Thought Her Childhood Home Was Gone Forever. Then She Bought It Back and Gave Her Family the Best Surprise (Exclusive)

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2 days ago

Jenaca was raised in the home her god-grandfather Jerry built in the 1970s, which he cared for with his wife, Pat
After the house was sold following their deaths, Jenaca thought it was gone forever — until she found it on Zillow and bought it back
Her emotional surprise for her grandmother, who introduced her to Jerry and Pat, has since gone viral on TikTokWhen Jenaca pulled up to a house with her grandmother in the passenger seat and asked her to close her eyes, she was keeping the kind of secret that changes everything.
In a now-viral TikTok, Jenaca paints the picture of her buying back the house her family grew up in. The popular clip reads: 'Surprising my grandma with our new house but it's actually the one I grew up in.'
Jenaca grew up in the house, raised from infancy by her god-grandparents, Pat and Jerry, who were introduced to her parents by her grandmother, Connie. 'They started watching me from as soon as my mom went back off of maternity leave — I was 12 weeks old,' she exclusively shares with PEOPLE.
The connection between her family and Pat and Jerry went far beyond friendship. 'I would never say they were anything other than my grandparents,' she says.
Jerry built the house in the 1970s and lived there with wife Pat until they died, Pat in 2016 and Jerry in 2022. 'They did not ever live anywhere else,' Jenaca says. 'I grew up in that house from literally when I was born until she passed.'
After Jerry's death, the house was sold due to probate court, something Jenaca and her family had no control over. 'We were all heartbroken,' she says. 'Your whole life you hope for something and then it's just taken away.'
Then earlier this year, everything changed. 'We had just come back from looking at an apartment because our lease is up, and I saw the Zillow listing go up for their house,' she remembers.
She immediately panicked, afraid it would slip through her fingers again. 'I called the realtor and he didn't answer, and I just started crying because I was like, I'm not going to get it,' she says.
Determined not to lose it again, she searched online and found the agent's personal cell number. 'I called him and he got us out there, and I cried in the driveway, I cried touring the house,' she remembers.
Inside the backyard shed, she found her childhood toy car still sitting there. 'I just started bawling,' she says. When she told the realtor her story, everything shifted. 'He was like, I'm not even going to put the sign up. It's yours. We're done.'
From there, she kept the secret close, revealing the news to one person at a time — first her dad, then her mom. 'I showed them a picture of the car in the shed and asked if they recognized it,' she recalls. 'Then I told them, I got the house.'
The last person she told was her grandmother Connie. 'I wanted to make sure everything was through before I took her out there,' Jenaca says.
She invited her grandma for what she said was breakfast, with her dad along for the ride. 'I said we're going to take a detour,' she recalls. 'Then I told her to close her eyes.'
As they pulled up to the house, Jenaca's heart was racing. 'I was nervous and excited. I just really wanted that big reveal for her,' she says.
When her grandmother opened her eyes and saw the house, she was overwhelmed. 'She was speechless,' Jenaca says. 'And then tears just started flowing.'
The home meant something deeply personal to her grandmother, too. She had known Pat and Jerry since before Jenaca was born. 'She's basically grown up in that house too, through her adult years,' Jenaca shares.
In the TikTok video, her grandmother's voice is full of emotion as she says, 'Pat and Jerry would love this.' For Jenaca, it was the exact reaction she hoped for. 'I feel like we all just had this sense of peace,' she says. 'It was like … it's back, you did it, it's done.'
Now, every visit feels like a quiet reunion. 'Every time we go over there and every time we talk about it, we just can't believe it,' she says.
She hasn't moved in just yet, but plans to do so this summer. 'We had the carpets cleaned and we're going to start moving everything in mid-June,' she shares.
The memories inside the house are countless. 'Every single night, I'd sit at my little desk while my granny played Pogo and I'd play Webkinz next to her,' she says. 'Then we'd watch Law & Order: SVU when it first came out.'
There were birthday parties, holidays and everyday traditions. 'Every Christmas, every Easter, every Thanksgiving — I have so many photos of every single person in my family in that house,' she says.
The emotional impact of returning as the homeowner has been profound. 'I feel home … that's the best way I can describe it,' she says.
Even in a flipped and renovated space, Pat and Jerry's presence is still there. 'I was cleaning the cabinets the other day and found her wallpaper underneath,' Jenaca shares. 'It makes my heart hurt, but I feel like I'm healing.'
That healing is something her whole family shares. 'It's been comforting for all of us,' she says. 'We're finally at peace.'
She plans to keep traditions alive and make the house a gathering place once more. 'We used to have a shelter house in the back, and my family's already telling me I need to rebuild it,' she laughs.
They've kept the original fireplace too, which is a detail Jenaca treasures. 'We have so many pictures of family in front of that fireplace,' she says. 'I want to keep doing that every Christmas, every Easter, every Thanksgiving — and one day, hopefully, with my own kids.'
The response to the TikTok has been overwhelming in the best way. 'It's scary to post something so personal online, but everyone has been so happy for me,' she says.
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What she's loved most is hearing from people who share similar dreams. 'I get messages from people saying, 'I hope I can get my childhood home someday,' and I just tell them, don't give up,' she says.
Now that she's home again, the emotions are still hard to describe. 'Sometimes I'm walking through the house and it's like I expect my granny or grandpa to be there,' she says of Pat and Jerry. 'It's weird, but it's comforting at the same time.'
'Surreal' is the word she keeps coming back to. 'I don't even have an appropriate emotion for it,' Jenaca says. But one thing is certain — she's right where she's meant to be. 'This house is more than just a building,' she notes. 'It's a piece of my heart.'
Read the original article on People