Charlie and I have been together for almost 18 years, which, if you’re doing the math at home, is almost 50% of my lifetime.
That said, we only got into (official) Communal Living, and Six-Figure Debt in 2013. So, for the first 11 years of The Grand Experiment, we not only lived in separate households, but separate ZIP codes, and three counties apart.
I still, as recently as last night, have dreams about us living apart. The theme about these “Living Apart” dreams is one of two things:
- We are, in fact, married, but he still lives in in Ashland, and I’m living at home with my parents. And I get very frustrated that we have not yet bought a house that we can live in together, or
- We are married, and working the jobs we currently have (me in Cleveland, he in Ashland), but we live in Ashland, and why, God, why haven’t we bought a house that’s not in Ashland?!
The first scenario is always much more unsettling when I wake up than the second. I’m equally distressed by both scenarios as I’m dreaming, but it’s weird that my subconscious may still be getting used to the fact that yes, a Major Lending Institution agreed with us that Charlie and I were totally good for the six figures we swore we’d pay back in a timely fashion.