It's Not That Easy

Chapter 4 - For Your Own Protection

The best protection any woman can have...is courage. - Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Chapter 4 - For Your Own Protection

I hear the jingling of keys close to my ears. Again, you would think there would have been a knock on the door first, but no. Jingle, jingle, jingle. I reach out to grab the annoying sound and possible the person with the annoying sound. "Whoa, she's alive."

"Yes, and good morning to you, too." I stretch and begin to pull myself out of bed.

"Come on, Addy, it's moving day. Uncle Michael is downstairs ready for you." Peyton hands me the keys and bounces out of my room with more energy than I will have all day.

I walk downstairs with two suitcases, laptop, and an oversized purse. Almost everyone is here, but the missing ones will meet us at my new house. With that thought, I can feel a smile grow across my face, and exceptionally large smile.

Am I ready for this? I think to myself and my face falls.

"Oh, there's the new home owner." My Uncle Michael greets me as I enter the kitchen. He talks with me as I get a few things packed away better. He is a contractor and for the better part of a month his company has worked on my house. The kitchen was new, but the two existing bathrooms needed overhauled, and the whole house needed painting. A third bathroom is being built, but I am able move in before that is finished.

Even with the amount of work needed, buying a house was a smart decision for me. I'll be here for at least the next four years, and if I am offered a local residency, I could be here an additional 3 years and that does not include my speciality.

I am the product of two very driven, very successful lawyers. My biological parents both died. My father died when I was four, and my mother died of ovarian cancer just before I started fourth grade. I was their only child and I inherited everything, and that is how a 21-year-old med student is able to buy a house...through tragedy.

Mom hands me a breakfast sandwich wrapped in a napkin and a to-go cup of coffee. "You need to get a move on. I'll meet you at your house at 9:00." She says and wraps me in her arms. This is it, this house will no longer be my home...it's my parents' home.

My dad, Mason, and Holden are already in the moving truck and Joel and Elliot are in Joel's truck when I step outside. Uncle Michael, Peyton, and I follow the trucks, and load up my mother's old furniture that was saved for me, which I hadn't seen in almost 10 years. Not everything will fit in my small house, so while renovations were taking place, Dad and I sorted through what we thought would fit in my new home. With eight sets of hands, we were able to load in just over an hour.

The traffic wasn't too terrible, and by 8:00 we pull in front of my new house. Taking a moment to let my emotions settle, I brace myself for this chance this day will bring.

I look at my 1940's bungalow, and admire the fresh coats October Sky and Ashland Slate paint...pale beige and dark gray. Edward and Helen pull in just as we exit the vehicles. Dad puts his hand on my back, "Go on in, check it out before we start bringing it all in." I grab Joel and Helen's hands and we walk into the newly refurbished house together.

The kitchen hasn't changed much. Mid-tone wood cabinets that reach the ceiling with light colored granite countertops. The previous owners had opened the area to the dining room so that it's one larger space, and we had decided to paint it robin's egg blue. It seems much brighter than it did a few weeks ago.

The living room was painted in a very soft pale green that blends nicely with the blue from the kitchen. The wainscot and trim had been beige, has now been painted a bright white. Each bedroom holds a different personality: Joel's steel gray, Helen's very soft lavender, and mine - ocean blue.