"BACK IN THE DAY"…THE MAN WITH THREE APARTMENTS!

Hi Friends!

BACK IN THE DAY © stevenn beck

"The Man With Three Apartments"

When I wake up every morning in my own apartment the first two thoughts I have are:

1- how wonderful it is to be able to get out of bed, stand up - and walk on my own to the bathroom.

2- how much I enjoy being in my apartment…the apartment that helped get me back on track.

Regarding # 1….you shouldn't take this for granted. Because when you can't do it….get out of bed under your own power…it has just got to be a totally dehumanizing and demoralizing feeling. (And I know this from fairly recent experience.)

Regarding # 2… the story goes like this…

When I separated from my daughter's mom, I moved from our wonderful town home into a "hole-in-the-wall" apartment in the back of someone's house. The place was badly in need of a complete overhaul. (But - it was just a place to go until I figured everything out.) Needing to move again because my child was starting kindergarten in the fall - and the neighborhood public school wasn't the best - I eventually found a great school and started looking for an apartment in that area.

It was close to school registration time when I finally found a terrific apartment practically across the street from the new school. It was a basement apartment - renting of course, the attorney fees were backbreaking - but large, clean, with beautiful hardwood floors, a modern kitchen and appliances…a place I could live in for awhile and - dare i say it - even entertain in. The owners of the house were a husband and wife, late-middle-aged, they seemed nice enough. So I signed the lease and moved out of the hole-in-the-wall BEFORE the end of the month. Movers came to transport these second-hand furniture (and personal items) I possessed - and the only difficult moment was the difficulty they had bringing my extraordinarily heavy, large and bulky desk down the stairs into the basement (they had to turn a corner to accomplish this feat and actually lift the desk over one section of the bannister.)

I was excited. Reasonably happy.

The first night my landlords had a loud, raucous argument...seemingly alcohol-fueled…and kept me up half the night. I learned some new four-letter words - and almost called the cops several times. (How do you call the cops on your nee landlords?) I practically passed out at work, But - it was only one night right? An aberration? Nope - the second evening, the third….both the same. Completely stressed - how could I have my young doughtier stay with me in that environment - I finally snuck out the back door at 3am, carrying all the important items…work clothing, toothbrush, stereo system and computer (had to make a number of trips) plus some bedding. Leaving the rest of my possessions behind I ended up in the FISRT apartment (the "hole-in-the wall") - I still had the key until the first of the month - and slept on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket because all the furniture was gone. A 43-year-old man, the manager of an office…sleeping on he floor of a barren apartment!

I was scheduled to visit my parents in FLA in three days. The next day I went back to an apartment I had previously ruled out…still near the good school, but another hole-in-the wall….and just one room to boot. Without the ability to control my own heat. (An apartment so ill-suited that - as I discovered shortly thereafter - every time I put the microwave on the power went out….and I didn't have direct access to that as well.) Anyway…so here I am…paying an attorney big money, in the middle of a divorce, trying to take care of my child - and paying not one, not two but THREE rents in the same month!

THREE rents. ONE month!

Returning from the week in FLA I broke my lease with the alcoholic late middle-aged landlords (although they insisted on keeping my security deposit since they would have to pay for a new advertisement), called up the same moving company who - when the SAME guys came down the stairs and saw me - not to mention the heavy, large and bulky desk they'd moved down the stairs just weeks before - said in unison "NOT YOU AGAIN!" - and wanted to quit, I had to give them huge tips. Somehow they moved everything back up - including the desk - and then into the new "hole-in-the wall".

Where I stayed for several years, recovering….

Eventually I found the energy to look for a real apartment - and located found one in a well-maintained condo building. I sublet for a few years, eventually purchasing the apartment. My daughter would stay over and use the bedroom - we were comfortable there. More than comfortable…played board games in the living room, told silly stories at bedtime…played catch in the front of the building. Friends would even come over to hang out. (Even an occasional woman would come by…although we won't go into that right now.) This is the apartment where I was able to really get stabilized, reviver and move on to a new, happier and productive life. Write and produce my music…start taking acting lessons…and feel like a person again…

I love that apartment…

Sometimes - just sometimes - the ending IS happy! :-)

Bye for now- be safe!

Stevenn