Sunday, Mar. 15, 2015 @ 7:08 pm
Ontario Street
I'm sitting alone in our new (old) townhouse, and it's so surreal. Feelings move through me intensely. Sadness and mourning our old condo. Longing for the way things were. Cautious joy at owning a townhouse in the second most expensive city in the world. And truly honestly in the City of Vancouver - city hall is two blocks north and five blocks west.
This place has major shortcomings, I'm not going to lie. There's a reason that we can (just barely) afford this place. It's thirty years old, and the construction quality is mediocre. But it's a start, and it gets us onto the wave of real estate inflation. Owning this means that we will always be able to afford this kind of place in this neighbourhood, whether housing prices rise or fall. We are in, and the feeling is really sweet.
Yesterday we met eight of our neighbours and they were all so nice and welcoming. We didn't meet that many neighbours living in the old place for two years!
Seeing our names on the title. Looking out into the earth that I own (in common), and planning my garden. On this soil, in my hometown. In a neighbourhood so lovely, lively.
My heart alternately aches and feels full. I ride the feelings up and down, and the Vancouver rain falls.
I don't know what the future holds, but this moment is truly sweet. I love my job, and I can walk to work from my new home, past heritage houses and towering chestnut trees. Just being in this moment is enough, and if this is life then I'm happy to be here.
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