The Beginning: Life Lessons From a Double Wide Part 1

I must admit something to you.

I used to be considered....well....what you would call "High Maintenance". It's true. I used to clap when I got excited, shriek when something scared me,I loved attending to my hair, buying and wearing make up, I even....I must admit....giggled. I loved to go shopping, dressing up was an event that I greatly looked forward to. Growing up, my Barbie collection was envied by many a nine year old girl. I took dance lessons and I LOVED tutu's (ok...so some things might not have changed that much.) I was a cheerleader and I enjoyed painting my nails. I have even been known to say the word "like" several times in any given sentence. So...what has changed you may ask. I contribute the change to life lived in a double wide.

It all started after Jamie popped the big question. Not the question you may be thinking. That came before this dreadful event. The question was..... "I bought us a house! Is that ok?". Now imagine my excitement when my finance called and said he bought us a house. I was thrilled. I shrieked. I clapped my hands and giggled. I even jumped up and down. It truly was a glorious occasion. But my small shallow mind could not fathom what the next words out of his mouth would be.

"It's a double wide".

Silence.

I do believe that in that very moment my entire world stopped. I was breathing but the people around me were frozen. The wind quit blowing. The birds quit chirping. My mouth stood agape. My phone slipped ever so slowly from my hand. My mind was screaming "HE BOUGHT US WHAT?!?!?!".

Jamie went on to say that is was a good investment. He had gotten a good deal on it because a tree had fallen in on one of the bedrooms.

"DID HE SAY TREE!"

Yes that's right ladies. A tree. In one short conversation my dreams, my world had suddenly fallen apart. Gone was my white house with a white picket fence. Gone was the comfort of not running to a storm shelter when a storm came. Gone were all the images I had imagined that my first years of marriage might hold. How could I possibly pick out linens to go in a DOUBLE WIDE? How could I possibly entertain in a trailer? How could I possibly....gasp.....tell my friends about my new house? (I use the word house loosely here.)

The day came when Jamie decided he wanted to take me to the trailer park where the double wide was currently sitting. Yes, I said TRAILER PARK. We pulled up, and on first glance, I must admit that it wasn't as bad as the images I had conjured up in my head. THEN we walked inside. The walls were adorned with a light blue and navy blue custom printed sheet rock. It is my understanding that this is only available in trailers. Lucky us. The curtains that were hung also shared the same blue color. They were akin to what you might see hanging in an Arizona roadside gas station restaurant. I can't even begin to describe the mirrors that were hanging over the garden tub in the master bathroom. All I will say is that they were imprinted with a, shall we say, southwestern design. Something else that is made specifically for trailers. Who knew that trailers were so special that there were companies who actually made custom designed sheet rock, mirrors, and glorious chair rails (I can't even begin to describe this one). All I knew is that whoever got paid to design these things needed to seriously consider another profession.

I stood there. Glancing around. Taking everything in. This was our house. OH MY GOODNESS. THIS WAS OUR HOUSE. shriek,. Shriek. SHRIEK.

After I had wiped away all of my tears. I decided that we could make this work. We would have to , of course, redo every single thing inside the double wide. Not to mention the enormous tree that was lodged in the back bedroom. But with a lot of hard work. I thought. That maybe it could be possible. That it could be done. Realistically, I knew that it would take nothing short of God sending his most glorious miracle for me to ever be comfortable or happy about living in a double wide.