This Old House

BAM!--here we are, even DEEPER in suburbia, in the home I was raised in.

Three years ago, I was living on my own in a cozy apartment in a quaint Montreal neighbourhood. Two-and-a-half years ago, I met the most wonderful man. Not long after that, I was driven out of my cozy apartment by an army of bedbugs brought in by the nasty tenant in the basement. When that wonderful man didn't leave me, I knew he was pretty damn special. So, we bought a place together.

In the suburbs.

Gone were the short walks to the local grocery store, or to the local pastry shop, or to the local bar. There was nothing within walking distance, really, besides identical condo buildings. Gone was the convenience of having a metro station nearby to whisk me to a friend's place. But hooray for my own parking spot! I no longer had to dig my car out of snowbanks! I no longer had to hunt for a parking spot for thirty minutes! And hooray for proper soundproofing! I never heard the upstairs neighbours and, perhaps more importantly, they never heard me. It was a sweet little condo, just right for our first home.

And then two became three.

My wonderful man and I got hitched a year-and-a-half ago and welcomed our baby boy on Thanksgiving 2009. Suddenly, our two-bedroom condo was feeling a little cramped. I run my own business from home and my beloved was about to start his own company. And, while babies may be small, baby equipment sure isn't.

Conveniently, my newly retired folks were planning on selling my childhood home to live full-time at the cottage. They made us an offer we couldn't refuse and--BAM!--here we are, even DEEPER in suburbia, in the home I was raised in.

I've come full-circle, from dealing with downtown parking woes and precarious staircases, July 1 moving days and countless licks of paint on tired apartment walls, to coming back to the only detached house I've ever known. My dog now has a massive fenced-in yard to poop in. My son now has a forest to explore behind our house. My husband now has a garage to do his handiwork in. And I now have double the rooms to clean! In all seriousness, our family now has room to grow. I had such a terrific childhood here, I can't wait to watch my son grow up in this house, too. There's just one hitch.

I remember, at twenty years old, vowing to never go back to the suburbs. And here I am ten years later in the thick of it. I loved this neighbourhood as a kid. I simply have to learn to love it again as a grown up.