Working on Turning my Apartment into a Home
By Buzzy
All you concerned people, I have now lived in my apartment for almost six-months. It has truly been an rewarding experience. Since the first installment of this journey from homeless to living somewhere that I can call my own. I have gotten most of the essentials together such as cleaning, supplies, coffee pot, television, living room furniture, microwave, vacuum cleaner, and most of the things that it takes to sustain a comfortable living environment.
I am teaching myself to maintain a clean and healthy environment. One of the things you really don’t care too much about when living on the streets is keeping a clean space. Each and every day I am learning to replace those bad habits with good habits. I guess the best experience that I have had thus far is my family has been to my place of residence and giving me a thumbs up. At times when I was living on the streets my family wouldn’t hear from me for months or even years, but that was the way of the streets. Your only concern is where is that next meal coming from and where you can rest for the night, out of harms way. I didn’t want to bring my family into that lifestyle of homelessness.
I was really rewarded in June when my youngest sister came up from Atlanta Georgia and wanted to stay with me while she was here. Of course, being my sister she immediately started rearranging my furniture and telling me the do’s and don’ts of maintaining a home. I think anyone else would have been upset with someone coming in their home and telling you this and that, but I needed the help. I wanted help and she did just that. It made me feel so good inside to know that my younger sister was pleased with my place and she enjoyed staying with me when she was here.
I am still not as neat and orderly as most of my brothers and sisters, but I am pleased to know that I am on the right path. When I started this journey, I was just like a baby starting to crawl. I am now pulling myself up and bracing myself as I learn how to walk. As a child, I know that I will fall sometimes, but I will pick myself up again and get back in the race. Because that’s life, as Frank Sinatra put it so bluntly. So here I sit in my apartment writing these few lines to let everyone know that I am doing okay.
I am excited for sure. It will not be displaced in my demeanor when you ask me,” How’s life in your apartment?” I will still say it’s better than being homeless. Having a place to call my own and taking it step by step, day by day, and asking the creator to give me the strength to keep striving for the prize of one day calling this my home with all the comforts that a home entails will be a beautiful feeling. So when we pass each other at the West Side Market, at an Indians game Downtown Cleveland, or wherever I am selling the Street Chronicle remember that I truly grateful to all.
No matter what has transpired between us, I have been truly glad to make your acquaintance. I enjoy giving all the readers this update on my journey to turning a place into an apartment an apartment into a home. It’s been exciting, rewarding, uplifting, crazy, fulfilling--just all those good feelings. I do want to say as I bring this part of the journey to a close, I don’t call my family as much. I’m starting to feel comfortable and putting all my trust in the creator that he will see me through, So, until next time, I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thanks once again for your support and concern.
Continue to keep the faith.
Copyright Cleveland Street Chronicle August 2013 Cleveland, Ohio