Stairs

Our house has stairs. It’s a two-story house. The former occupants referred to the ground level as the basement. But there is no basement. No part of our house is below ground level.

There are about seven steps up to the front door. Inside the front door is an entryway/landing area that is midway between the two stories. So once you’ve entered the house, you either have to go up about seven more steps to the upper/main level, or down about six steps to the den and laundry room and the door out to the garage.

Our first home purchase (after living in a 500 square foot apartment for almost five years)  was a two-story condo. After living in that for approximately 14 years, we vowed we would never buy another two-story abode. So the house we bought next was a one-story home. It did however have a walk-out basement that was accessed by a set of very gradual steps along one side of the house. We lived in that house for nearly 29 years. Originally, we thought we would live there for the rest of our lives.

Then we decided to move. Things change. The city in which we now live has a preponderance of two-story homes, tri-level homes and split level homes. Most homes have some sort of basement.

We looked at a lot of homes before deciding to buy this one. There was only a couple that were on one level. We did not like either of them. So we broke our rule and bought a house with stairs. We love our house. I can’t imagine being happier in some other house.

But right now, the stairs are kind of a problem. I’m a bit debilitated due to a very bad reaction to an antibiotic prescribed to me by an oral surgeon.

Getting up and down those stairs has become kind difficult. I can still do it, but I’m slow. And it’s painful. But I have no regrets.

One of the reasons we had made our rule about single level homes was that we were looking ahead to a time when we would be older (as we are now) and less fit (I’d be fine except for that antibiotic) and when stairs might become an issue. But you know what, I’m glad we broke the rule even if the stairs vex me right now and might do so again in the future. Because buying second or third best because we were worried about the future just does not compute for me. I find it is much nicer to be content right now than to worry about what might or might not happen in the future.

My mom had a number of favorite sayings. One of them was “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” It’s good advice.

It just seems to me that a lot of people are worrying so much about their futures that they are totally messing up their nows. I did that for years. I don’t want to do that anymore.

And that’s my thought for the day.