Our First Place
Since my book, “Laugh. Fight. Stay Married,” didn’t sell, I’ve been left wondering what to do with this giant draft. Years worth of writing would just go to waste sitting on my laptop. So, I’m going to share it here. It won’t be regular postings. They won’t be in any kind of order. But occasionally when I’m out of blog fodder, I’ll share a little story from the manuscript. The good news is that you guys get pictures, too! This first story is of our initial visit to Connecticut, before we were even married. We went up one weekend to find a place to stay and had… well… an eye opening experience, to say the least.
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New England architecture is very different than what we had in Florida. Smaller rooms, smaller windows, smaller everything. And, unlike the shiny new apartment complexes that went up by the month in Florida, here in Connecticut there was no room for new construction and so apartments were primarily large, old homes that were sectioned off by floors into apartments. While that sometimes gave you interesting features like ornate wainscoting and original hardwood floors, it also meant apartments were often shoved into spaces where apartments were never intended to be. Kitchens were small, sometimes stuck in places like hallways and closets. Bedrooms were tiny with paper-thin walls. And laundry rooms were a rare luxury.
By the time we visited the first two apartments, I was more nervous than ever about my decision of following Chris to Yale. As we walked through apartments that smelled like boiling cabbage and felt to my English major imagination like a scene straight out of a Dickens novel, my mind couldn’t help but drift back to Florida and to my supposed law school classmates who would have been starting their first week of law school right now.
What had I done? Was I sure I’d made the right choice? What would I do if I hadn’t?
The landlord of the third apartment that we were viewing was showing us through the tiny apartment he lent out above his legal aide office downstairs. The wood paneling from the walls were straight out of the 70s. So was the leather vest that he wore.
“And, um, the ad says there is laundry on the premises?” I asked, clearing my throat and forcing myself to focus on what we were doing.
“Oh, yeah,” the landlord said, walking us through the dirty claustrophobic hallway that I am almost positive had been the scene of a homicide at some point. We stepped out into the small gravel parking lot behind the house and the landlord motioned across the street where a neon red sign glowed in the window of a store.
LAUNDRY MAT – OPEN 24 HOURS.
“Oh,” I said.
Chris took my hand and thanked the landlord for his time and we turned to leave.
“But I haven’t shown you the basement,” he called after us.
“No thanks!” Chris yelled back and then whispered to me, “We aren’t interested in seeing where you hide the bodies…”
We walked down the block to the last apartment appointment we had that day, but I was so discouraged that I felt like cancelling it altogether.
“You know,” Chris said. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
“You are?” I said, smiling despite my sadness.
“Yep. I couldn’t do this without you. So, Kate, if you don’t want to be here, then I don’t want to be here either.”
I sniffed back tears that I hadn’t even noticed I was crying and stopped walking. Chris turned to me and I searched his face for any signs that he was just saying this to make me feel better. But there was no hesitation on his face. No sadness or worry. He looked as if he had just asked me where I wanted to have dinner. It was as simple of a decision as that to him. Either I was here with him, or we both went home. That was it.
And that was all I needed to know.
“No,” I said, wiping my face on my sleeve. Cause I’m classy like that. “I’m ready. I want to do this. It’s just really different. But I know this is where we’re supposed to be right now.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Positive.”
“Okay, then let’s go see this last apartment and then I’ll take you out for a good dinner. Something really special.”
“Oh, goody!” I sniffed, never being one to turn down a good meal.
The last apartment was one that Chris had found earlier that morning as we walked around looking at areas of town. It was smaller than most of the apartment buildings we had seen, only two stories. It was a light beige color with burnt orange shutters and front door. It wasn’t attractive, really. But walking in that front door felt good.
The landlord, Brad, was a young, redheaded man, not too much older than we were. He and his wife, Naomi, bought the house to rent out to college students and had been lucky so far in having the luxury of choosing who they wanted to rent it to. When he took us inside, I understood why.
It was gorgeous and nothing like any of the other apartments we had seen. The house was only put up for rent that day and from the looks of the place, it would rent out quickly.
The living room, lined with built in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, opened up into the dining room, which opened up into the kitchen. In the dining room and kitchen, massive skylights let in more light than any other apartment we had seen so far and, more importantly, reminded me of Florida. Off of the kitchen and towards the back of the house were two large bedrooms and a small but clean full bath. The back yard was really large and enclosed by a privacy fence, something unheard of in the city of New Haven. And just off the house was an enormous deck that was surrounded in lush green vegetation. It felt more like we were in a summerhouse in the mountains than it did a tiny apartment in the city.
The minute I stepped into the living room, I blurted out to Brad, “We’ll take it.”
Chris laughed and put his arm around my shoulders, whispering into my ear, “Then welcome home, Kate.”
28 Comments
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
Oh.my.gosh!!!! I can’t WAIT for the next installment! This is going to be awesome!
LDiggitty
Have you considered alternate publishing methods? Like Kindle Shorts?
Erin R.
I really hope you share these with us on a regular basis… once a week?? Maybe have a separate section on your blog for these short stories?? Can’t wait to read the next one 🙂
Stephanie @ Blonde Highlights
I love it! Your first home sounds so special and I am so glad that you are sharing your manuscript with us. I think you are an amazing writer and I do hope that publishing works out in the future. . . but for now I am super happy that we get to enjoy it 🙂
Ginna
This is so exciting! I was really disappointed to hear about your book deal falling through, and am very much looking forward to reading more of your stories here on the blog!
Lindsay (Young Married Mom)
Oh, how wonderful. What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing your work and your life with us!!
Nancy
That’s it????!!!! 🙂 Lord, I hope a publisher picks this up! I want to keep reading! With all of the serious reads and 50 Shades of Gray type books, it is really refreshing to have a book that reads like this. I work in a position that goes between the consumer and corporate in retail, and corporate does not always know what the consumers want! Please keep trying and I pray for you they listen one day!
Chelsea
I was hoping that you would post some of these stories someday! Please post more! I LOVE reading 🙂
PS- I would definitely buy your book!
Beanie & Gracie's Nana
Oh, Kate! Post the chapter about your beautiful ageless mother who speaks softly with a french accent. You know, the one about how your mom can eat a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts a day and never gain a pound and is considering quitting her job to play on the LPGA tour. oh…you never wrote that chapter? oh well
Jillian
Yes, share more! You really are a gifted writer. Thank you for sharing with us! (And your mom is really funny!)
Mary-My Life in Scotland
You should do some more edits and make it fit into the categories those publisher’s were wanting. No author gets there on the first try. They do massive rounds of edits. If you were so close, you could be so close again if you just changed gears.
You could also self publish and make yourself some money. Self publishing isn’t what it once was. The faux pas aren’t there. Lots of really great books are coming from self pub.
kelly h
Those publishers are crazy! I already don’t want to put it down! Thank you for sharing this with us, you are an amazing writer and I cant wait to read more 🙂
jessica
Awesome! Sooo excited!
Melissa
Love this story! It reminds me of when your blog was brand new and I fell in love with it. Still love the blog, but I’m not at the kids phase of life so while I still love your writing, it’s just not as easy for me to relate. Oh, I love love love this story!
Also – Beanie & Gracie’s Nana is hilarious.
Aunt Ginny
@Mary-My Life in Scotland: Trust that this definitely was not Kate’s first draft or rework for publishers. She’s been reworking to fit their categories and needs for three years. That being said, I’m so glad you’re posting these Kate!!! And you never know what tomorrow may hold – another round of edits and proposals may be just around the corner! But who wants to live on the hope of “what if” – this is the perfect outlet to share with those of us who wake up every day and immediately go to Marriage Confessions site to see what you are up to! 🙂 I’m so proud of you!
Sarah Jensen
I am so glad you decided to share! Thanks for the warm fuzzies this morning. 🙂
Katy
What a great story…and you are a very talented writer and hope that when the time is right you do get that book deal you have been striving for. I know one person who will be first in line to buy it…ME!! Thank you for continuing to allow a bunch of strangers into your daily life…you definitely have a gift!! And your stories always bring a smile to my face…I love having you as a friend…because even though you don’t know me, you make me feel good…there is someone else who totally gets what it is like to be a working mother who continuely trys to pull herself out of bed every morning to workout!! 🙂
Hilary
Whether or not the book ever actually gets published, what an AMAZING history of your experiences to share with your children and future grandchildren. I can’t imagine how awesome it would be to get to read the story of my parents’ relationship and see how they were able to work through their ups and downs. No good thing ever goes to waste, and God wanted you to write this for a reason. Maybe not a book deal reason, but perhaps for something even better!
Nikki
I’m so glad that you posted this, and I cannot wait for you to post more. I’ve had a blast going back through the archives to the “before Bean” times, so it’s really nice to see this new post. Looking forward to the next ones!
Alaina
Aw, this is so sweet!
Amy L Butler
Wonderful story. I look forward to reading more of your book. I also look forward to the day your book gets published and I get to own a copy. I love your blog and recommend it to so many family and friends. The content is so real and a lot of times is just what we’re going through ourselves. Thank you so much for sharing.
Mariya
This is going to be fun. Thanks for sharing.
Ashley @ According to Ashley
Great idea! Thanks for sharing with us. I was really excited to read your book one day and now I don’t have to miss out!
Lindsay
Self publish!
Monique
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Katie! I’m already looking forward to the next installment.
Rachel @ The Ongoing Planner
Love it Katie! I am so glad we still get to hear all of your stories and appreciate you hard work! This post actually makes me feel better about the discussion we just had at dinner about me possibly working part time when we have kids instead of our initial thoughts that my husband be the one to stay home more if we even went that route. Hopefully we know what feels right when the time comes like you did with your big decision to move with Chris!
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Alyssa
No edits 🙂 I want to buy it NOW. Can’t you sell it via another avenue? Like an e-book?