So I spent New Years Eve with some couples from work. I was on my own as my wife took the kids to see her family over the long break, and I don’t have enough vacation to go with them since I started a new job in 2019. 2019 was a hell of a year. I quit my job without another, just a phone interview the evening after I left them. That got me in my new job exactly one month after I quit the old one. That was an upgrade. That said, I spent the next 6 months moving from the old house, trying to sell it, and getting into a new house. The wife and kids followed and we sold the old house at a loss after we were in the new one. We’re to the point now where we almost have the new house paid off, which will be a huge relief, but that wasn’t until after the mortgage company screwed us at closing and we delayed a week, and we had to liquidate some stock in savings to make the numbers work. I’ll be so glad when I can tell them to go to hell and stop dealing with a mortgage.
The other part about moving, is we have neighbors. I’m back in my old community, and I thought I might move next to my grade school crush’s house at one point as we were looking. She was the one I saw and my heart skipped a beat. I sat on her doorstep for an hour once as my friend went inside. One April fool’s she said she loved me. She’s the one I spent a day with at a festival junior year. That one. The house wasn’t next door, and her parents moved anyway. She was married, and so was I. Then I find out where her parents moved. They’re next door. My wife has talked with them more than I. Her dad mentioned when I met him, that she was going through a divorce. Talk about emotional roller coaster and torn feelings. I don’t know what to say. I figure at some point she’ll be there. I’ll just have to say hi and fight every emotion I have to play it cool. I’m sure I’ll have to write about it when it happens.
So, back to New Years Eve. I’ve had the house to myself for a few days, and I went into town for the evening, hanging out with three other couples. We went to a club that played oldies dance music. It was fun. I danced. I didn’t really drink. We got to midnight. I was on my own. The countdown happened. I drank my champagne without someone to kiss, which has been standard for years now, and the first classic song of the decade, “Always” by Bon Jovi.
Not a great start to the decade. That song holds a special place. In 2001, when I was in love with a woman online, that was the song. That was her’s. It was special. She’s the one I never met. I’m not sure she was ever real. I know every word, and it’s still raw 18.5 years later. Not the best start to the decade. We’ll see what happens. Life is complicated some times. Maybe most times.
Simplicity of Love 