As Cookie writes this, he and the Husband are on the cusp of a big change.
Yes, we are.
Let me explain:
In my life, I have been very fortunate to have friends who have spoken great truths to me. In 1996, it was a longtime friend - Beatguy - who participated in a fly-in of friends in DC. I went through a period after my father had died, I was approaching 34 and very unhappy with and Beatguy listened and said, "You know Cookie, if you two were to break up tomorrow, and you met your perfect match and then spent that same amount of time being happy with "The One", you'd be 45 when that happened."
It struck a nerve. Life only gives you so many years. And true to fact, there are no do-overs. Nine months later I left that person who had not made me really happy in a long time because I wanted something better for myself.
And you know, it was the BEST decision I ever made.
When I met with another friend, "B" (it seems that my truth tellers all have B names) here in Cleveland for a beverage in 2023, we talked about our homes. They had moved into a house that was more done than the house they had originally bought, and he said that even though they had tackled major projects, that house was never going to be what they envisioned for themselves, so their move was the right and the best decision for them.
I told him about the house were buying and he said "But will you be able to get it done by a point when you can enjoy it."
I said I thought we could.
Well, after everything, and more that, that we had replaced, and on the precipice of throwing even more money at a kitchen remodel, when the gas line had to be replaced without warning in December, something inside Cookie snapped. What my friend had said came into sharp focus.
And I said out loud what I had been feeling - "We need to admit that instead of this house working for us, we were working for the house."
Mr. Cookie agreed.
I mean after a year and a half, we still had not hung anything on the walls. The three rooms we had painted were done to get rid of the over-saturated HOT pink in the dining room, the YELLOW in my office, and the Nicotine Tan in the kitchen. And as the fates had happened, something always stopped us from moving forward on the kitchen remodel.
The Cosmos was telling us we had to find a better house. This time, a home.
So the search for a new house began. A house with stairs we can navigate into our Golden years. A house with walk-in closets. And a house with a finished kitchen. A yard much smaller, and easier to maintain. Not perfect mind you, but no major overhauls. But central AC is a must.
And we found just that.
So now the upheaval of life begins anew. Even though the world around us seems to be crumbling, we have to keep calm and carry on. The best tool in fighting chaos is to keep making life plans because life carries on.
And thus, we are on our way.
If you had told me in July 2023 that we would buy two houses in greater Cleveland, I would have told you you were crackers.
But, well, here we are.
A new and improved Withering Heights is upon us. Once we are settled, I'll give the updates.
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