My Country For A House
Last Sunday was my last day in Sioux City. At 4:30 Sunday afternoon I officially drove away from our house there, never to return. (The Lovely Mrs. G. and I joked that it was just like Felix Unger being thrown out of his apartment in the opening credits of “The Odd Couple”, except for 1) we’re not separating, and 2) she didn’t hand me a frying pan.)
So for the next 8 days I’m technically “homeless” – a man without a permanent residence. It makes me feel a little bit transient. Maybe I should grow a craggy beard and buy a bottle of Night Train? Thank God I’ve at least got my “box” Value Place room to stay in, and I don’t have to sleep in a genuine cardboard box, especially since it’s snowing and about 10 degrees outside right now.
It seems strange to think I’ll never be in my Sioux City house again. It was our home for 8.5 years – a place where I spent over 3,000 nights of my life. Other than my parent’s house in Seattle (which they bought in the mid 1950’s), it’s where I’ve lived the longest. So while I’m glad to be moving on, it’s still a little odd feeling to know I’ll never be inside that house again.
But all of that will be moot next Monday afternoon though, when we sign all the contracts and forms and promissory notes and other assorted legal docs for our new house in Omaha. Then I’ll have a home again – and a good home at that. I’ll be able to live under the same roof with my lovely bride and my cranky cats again (which will be a nice change), and I won’t have to drive 100 miles each way to visit them.
I’ll also have a lot of room in my new basement to fill with new and exciting crap – more Disney posters, some Florida mementos, and who knows what else I can come up with. It won’t be as tacky as your neighborhood Applebees (I promise you – and Mrs. G.), but it will have that certain je ne se qua that just screams out “Tommy Was Here”.
They say that home is where the heart is, and I’m sure it won’t take long before the Gressels are fully ensconced and familiar with their new surroundings. And since we’ll have 7 days before Christmas to get used to it, I’m fairly certain that the transition will go fast.
So here’s to home – may you always find your way back. But if someone else is now living there, may I recommend that you at least knock first.
So for the next 8 days I’m technically “homeless” – a man without a permanent residence. It makes me feel a little bit transient. Maybe I should grow a craggy beard and buy a bottle of Night Train? Thank God I’ve at least got my “box” Value Place room to stay in, and I don’t have to sleep in a genuine cardboard box, especially since it’s snowing and about 10 degrees outside right now.
It seems strange to think I’ll never be in my Sioux City house again. It was our home for 8.5 years – a place where I spent over 3,000 nights of my life. Other than my parent’s house in Seattle (which they bought in the mid 1950’s), it’s where I’ve lived the longest. So while I’m glad to be moving on, it’s still a little odd feeling to know I’ll never be inside that house again.
But all of that will be moot next Monday afternoon though, when we sign all the contracts and forms and promissory notes and other assorted legal docs for our new house in Omaha. Then I’ll have a home again – and a good home at that. I’ll be able to live under the same roof with my lovely bride and my cranky cats again (which will be a nice change), and I won’t have to drive 100 miles each way to visit them.
I’ll also have a lot of room in my new basement to fill with new and exciting crap – more Disney posters, some Florida mementos, and who knows what else I can come up with. It won’t be as tacky as your neighborhood Applebees (I promise you – and Mrs. G.), but it will have that certain je ne se qua that just screams out “Tommy Was Here”.
They say that home is where the heart is, and I’m sure it won’t take long before the Gressels are fully ensconced and familiar with their new surroundings. And since we’ll have 7 days before Christmas to get used to it, I’m fairly certain that the transition will go fast.
So here’s to home – may you always find your way back. But if someone else is now living there, may I recommend that you at least knock first.
posted by Tommy G at
7:45 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home