…that sense of how rich you are, when you’ve finally built the thing you’ve been starved for all your life. Funny how it can come out of nowhere…
It’s been raining off and on for more than 24 hours so the humidity’s substantially higher than I like – nearly normal, according to my wall barometer – and it’s making my joints hurt. And I was making my bed in my smelly bedroom just a few minutes ago, and I got to moaning and groaning about it.
And I said aloud to myself, as I sometimes will, “Well, get enough mileage on your frame and you too will groan a bit while you straighten up your smelly bedroom.”
And it struck me, not at all for the first time…
…how wonderful it is that I have a place that’s just mine, tailored to the needs and tastes* of nobody but me – and how this period in my life is the very first time that’s ever been true.
I mean, I’ve usually had a place to lay my head, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going all wretcheder-than-thou on you. But in one way or another it generally belonged to somebody else, and I was just sort of allowed to be there for a time.
I love my grubby little place – it’s mine alone, rose out of the dirt for me alone. Grew and adjusted as resources allowed to meet changing circumstances. About 3 years ago it sprouted something close to a normal bedroom in a normal house, which is in some ways my favorite space. Don’t really know why, the closest I can come is that it’s the only time I had such a space that was just mine.
Didn’t even know how much I wanted that until I had it. Now I don’t anticipate ever leaving – and believe me, that right there is a very unique feeling. Aches and all, I am a lucky old guy.
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*such as they are…
Just yours??? TB might have something to say about that. 🙂
Lucky? Yes indeed. IMHO well deserved
The better parts of life are made up of small victories, and sometimes the small victories turn out to be rather large ones. Congrats.
Ditto all of the above and be sure to not ask TB for his opinion, because you might be let down a notch. Even so, you can be very proud of what you have built, that is good enough.
Who knows, maybe the next expansion could include a Jacuzzi.
Note – I went to grad school with K. Jacuzzi, The air jet fountains were developed by his father to help him with severe physical issues.He was electric wheel chair bound when at college, not as severe as Hawking but close. Sharp mind.
Joel, I’ve been reading this blog for a very long time now. One thing I’ve seen over and over is that no matter the issue, no matter the problem or set back, you rise to the occasion. For me, this blog has been an inspiration because it details how just living can be an act of courage. And every so often Joel, you will publish an entry where you acknowledge how far you’ve come against all that life has thrown at you. You may not notice how well you’ve done very often, but I sure do. It’s what keeps me and a lot of others coming back to the blog.