End of an Era

In 2011, I turned 53.  Scott turned 49.  We’ve been together 15 years, more than a quarter of our lives shared in common pursuit of happiness, forging a common bond.

For much of that time, we’ve shared our home with others.  After living for two years in apartments in West Omaha, we moved into a house in Council Bluffs with 3 other individuals.  Jim, Pam and Gary became part of our family.  Much too soon after we moved in, Jim passed away from a heart attack.  Four years later on, Pam passed away, the result of her body’s inability to process carbon dioxide in her system (she frequently turned off her oxygen bottle in order to have a cigarette.)

And now the end of this arrangement is upon us.  On Saturday, Gary will be moving to Portland to be close to his nieces and what family he has.  I’d like to say it was an amicable parting, and we are really working to make it as amicable as possible.  Unfortunately, this is occurring because there was just no way we could continue to provide Gary a home.

For an arrangement like the one we all had to work, there has to be mutual trust and respect.  Over the past year, that has been slowly eroding.  I am tempted to go in to the reasons for this, but I think it best to leave it at that.  We no longer feel comfortable keeping Gary in our home.

On top of this, we need to prepare to sell our home, and having Gary in the house will impede that progress.

I’m glad Gary is leaving.  But a part of me is sad, too.  13 years we’ve shared a home and our lives, that’s 25% of our lives (almost).  It’s hard to say goodbye.

But more so, I’m looking forward to no longer sharing a home with anyone but Scott!

Post Script:  The above was written yesterday, 12/15/2011.  Last night we learned the family will be here TODAY, so by the time we go to bed tonight Gary will be gone.  I feel a little ashamed to mention this but, I actually feel a little like I did as a kid at Christmas time… that sense of anticipation for Santa…