New House

I have never moved. I've lived in the same place since I was born, and my dad lived there for a short time before my parents got married.

My next door neighbors have always been close friends. Sometimes they're annoying, sometimes they start drama with the neighbors, and sometimes they take advantage of me when I watch their kids (10 minutes turns into 2 hours), but for all their faults (there are some I can't even talk about here), they're really good people and I'm going to miss them when they're gone.

And they're just about gone at this point. They have finally risen above apartment dwelling into the realm of home ownership and they spend most of their time at their new house although they technically still live next door.

They asked me to help them move, and I figured that although they'd ask me to do way more than I would want to and that they'd probably never give me the promised gas money in return for my services, I would still do it, just to be nice.

Their new house is nothing fancy, but still, when I got there I got this feeling I'd really never had before. Seeing the newness of everything and how unadulterated the back yard was made me feel like this was a fresh start for them. They have alot of problems, and I felt like the problems weren't going to follow them here, no, not to this house. Everything was like a blank canvas, so new and fresh and perfect. There was nothing in the back yard. No dilapidated sheds, no clutter, no swing sets, no half dead trees. Just green grass. Inside, the carpets were new and clean and there wasn't alot of furniture. What was there was in its place and there was no mess all over like they have in their old house. It was a strange feeling, but a good one. I was happy for them, and I still am.

Perhaps the next time I go to their new house it will be full of toys and garbage and dirty clothes like their old place, but maybe not. I just hope they can keep their old ways at bay in their new house.