My First Home

The summer of 2002 was winding down. I had thought about buying a house, but since I was living with my mom, I took my time to find a place. One day when I was walking the babies downtown, I thought “I should get a place down here.” I decided to get a condo for several reasons. Deep down, I knew I’d have to move from Raleigh to a place where houses are too damned expensive. I didn’t want to spoil myself, so I chose a condo instead.


I also chose the downtown area because it was close, but not too close to my mom’s. A few years later when my dad was sick and I had to come over every day, that decision paid off well. I also didn’t want to live more than 30 min from work. I was right at the cusp of that criteria. Lastly, I knew Abby would love it down there. It was always hard to get her going, but a trip downtown always excited her. There was also a park right across the street from where my unit was.

One problem of buying a condo downtown is that what is a nice panoramic view one moment is a nice view of a 20 story building put up the next year. I knew that with a park sitting there, no development would ever take place there. I would always have a nice view of the downtown Raleigh skyline. The noise wasn’t too bad. I’m a heavy sleeper.

My condo was actually a loft. It was my first place and I no longer had to fret as a renter and worry about some asshole landlord looking over my shoulder. I was also excited to see how Abby would like it.