When my child was born I asked God for one thing only - to let me live with a sound body and mind until I was forty two. I didn’t want them to end up adopted or a guest in a relative’s home. Why? Because I had been a guest from a toddler till I moved out at age twenty.
I can still see myself stacking boxes filled with school photos and other memorabilia on the garbage room shelves, then making a left turn out the door and onto the elevator.
I had been given a $500 gift from my grandparent. It was key money for a furnished room.
The day I left they told me, “You can stay if you want, but if you leave you can’t come back. I’m taking your room for myself.”
That was a Saturday afternoon. Four days later the room was repainted and refurnished.
I’ve never regretted my choice.