4 years ago today we closed on our house. We tried to move in that evening only to find the water had been shut off due to a >$1k water bill unpaid by the prior occupants. Looking at the timeline I’m sure there were people in my life who thought we were being hasty. Sara and I had only known each other just over 10 months at that point and had been engaged for about a month and half.
When Sara hit a crisis point at her job that summer, that was the pivot point upon which our lives changed – I KNEW she was my forever person, so I told her to quit her job & move-in with me, and that we would figure it out. I proposed marriage a few days later. We started making plans to buy a house almost immediately, spent 1 day looking at houses at the end of July/beginning of August, and closed on our home about a month later. As soon as we moved into our home, we decided to hold our wedding that November in our new-to-us home, because why not? We were certain.
Never did I ever doubt our love or our relationship. It felt right from the start, not in a superficially “this is too easy” way, but in a “this nourishes my soul” way. Things weren’t always easy, but they were always right.
Today I’m grieving the loss of the beautiful future we were supposed to have in this home, full of decades more of love, children, good times and hard times… we were supposed to be here together, Sara and I.
My initial reaction when I knew she was dying was that I would have to move. I’ve backed away from that – I do love this house despite its many flaws and repairs needed, plus the real estate market isn’t particularly buyer-friendly at the moment anyways. Right now, staying here feels right, it feels okay, but who knows what the future holds…