29 times in 39 years

I have moved 29 times in the 39 years I have been alive. That's a lot of packing and unpacking. That's a lot of change of address cards. That's a lot of phone numbers to have to remember. It's also a lot of addresses to remember, and when I tried to do that, I failed. I've almost come full circle with my shelter. I really have no interest in living in the town where I was born; I have no connection with it. Cyndi and I know several couples who have come back to live in this area. While I'd rather be living in a cool single family in Chicago, or maybe even in another state, or dare I suggest another country, we've really made our house a home for ourselves and the kids. They feel a sense of security here; they too feel a connection. I'm not sure if the places where I lived say anything about me as a person. Maybe they do.

Here is a sketch of what my nomadic life has consisted of, with a comment on each:

1. Carpentersville, IL - this is where I was born. I have no recollection of this house, and I am not sure if there are many pictures in existence of what it looked like. I think it was small;


2. Wellington Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL - this is the first "home" I remember. It was also small; two bedrooms 1 1/2 baths. My brothers and I shared a bedroom, and we were allowed to switch a couple of times with our parents. We had "The Brady Bunch" set-up in one of the rooms (bunk beds for Ira and me, the two youngest--AKA Peter and Bobby, and a single twin for Darrell, the oldest--AKA Greg). The one cool thing I remember about this place was when our parents painted the downstairs bathroom. They let us dip our hands in black paint, and put our fingerprints all over the walls. It was so shocking that our cousin, Mark, who came to visit from California, literally jumped when he turned on the lights to go to the bathroom. Good times;


3. Racine Circle, Elk Grove Village, IL - this is where we spent from December 1977 - July 1988 (or so). I've written about this house before: http://ayeartill40.blogspot.com/2009/06/looking-at-ghosts-open-house.html;


4. Campion Hall - Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL - I liked the dorms so much that I lived there for three years. I lived in the same wing all of those years, too. I just moved rooms. Most of the people I am friends with today are because of Campion Hall. My first year, I had a girlfriend, who later became my fiance, who later became my ex (all within six months), I had a roommate named "Richard" (it was really a Vietnamese name), and I had a 3.5 GPA. I didn't drink much my freshman year.


5. The Trails, Roselle, IL - this was my mother's first rental after my parents split up. It was probably too big for the both of us, but it was nice. I would stay here on weekends when I was home from school, and then I lived here for part of the summer between my freshman and sophomore years;


6. Ginger Creek Drive, Palatine, IL - since my parents got divorced when I was 18 years old (I am the youngest), there was really no "custody" battle. I split my time between houses because I really did not have a permanent address after the divorce. Legally, I did, but I liked the freedom of moving around. I lived here with my dad for the latter part of the summer;


7. Campion Hall - Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL - Halfway through the first semester, my roommate/friend, Andy Palombo, got an open spot as an RA. I got a dorm room to myself. While I was home on winter break, I got a letter informing me that I would be getting a new roommate. I wasn't too happy about that. The guy's name was Ivan McCullagh. I vowed not to like him, mostly because his first name was "Russian." I completely ignored the fact that his last name is all Korean...I mean, all alcoholic...I mean, Irish. The moment arrived when he moved in. Ivan walked into the room, carrying a powder blue laundry basket filled with clean, folded clothes. He said, "Hello," and I couldn't understand a bit of it. I think Cameron Crowe stole the words out of my mouth when he wrote "Jerry Maguire." Ivan "had me at hello";


8. Grissom Trail, Elk Grove Village, IL - at some point during my sophomore year, my mother moved. She rented a house not too far from where I live now. In fact, we pass it every day we go for a family walk. That was a strange house, during an even stranger time in our lives. At one point, my mother arranged to have an exchange student from somewhere I cannot remember (watch for a reply from my mother), live with us. Without getting too much into it here, it didn't work out. My brother, Darrell, and my sister-in-law, Cindy, got married in 1991 and had their reception at this house. It was a wild night. So wild, in fact, that my dad used the side lawn to take a nap. More good times;


9. Campion Hall - Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL - year #3 at Campion offered me a stint as the RA. I was also in Army ROTC at this time, I had a full load of 18 hours (including a class on the complete works of William Shakespeare), and a part-time job as a bouncer at Hamilton's. I loved being an RA. I loved the camaraderie that my dorm mates formed. I loved the fact that we participated in almost every dorm sponsored event, won most of the tournaments/contests, etc. And I love the fact that almost 20 years later, many of these relationships still exist. Did I mention that I loved Campion Hall?;


10. Hanover Park, IL - This was the Fosco brother's definition of a Frat House. Ira owned a town home in Hanover Park after our parent's divorced, and he was nice enough to let his brother's crash his bachelor pad. Darrell went through his divorce (from his first wife) while living here, and (rightfully so) began to sow his oats. We had many a party at this place, or at least I did when Ira was working double shifts at the 911 dispatch center. I slept on the couch for most of my stay. Darrell met Cindy while we were all living here, so I eventually got a room. Ira never asked us for anything while we lived there. He's got a big heart when it comes to that stuff. Some things never change;


11. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL (apartment above Sheridan Florists) - all I can say is very cliche...if these walls could talk, they'd have their own blog;


12. Ginger Creek Drive, Palatine, IL - before I moved to AZ, my dad let me stay with him "one last time". I worked at Frato's for the summer from 9am - 9pm M-F, and every other Saturday. I also went out a lot after work and on the weekends. My dad never complained about me using his place as my very own hotel. I think he liked the occasional company;


13. McKellips Road, Mesa, AZ - The orange grove as written about here http://ayeartill40.blogspot.com/2009/07/no-internet-stillwriting-offline-and.html


14. other house in Mesa, AZ - my roommates and I moved to a regular house after the mouse problem at Shangri La. I had my own bedroom and bathroom, and we lived within walking distance of a pretty laid back bar. I moved out before the lease was up;


15. Gilbert, AZ (apartment) - after I left JVC, I moved into a two bedroom apartment with my girlfriend, Lyn and her three kids. For those of you who do not know the story, she was not even divorced yet (from her second husband), and the kids were 7, 8, and 9 (all from her first husband). It was a tiny apartment, and the walls kept creeping in on me...I just didn't notice;


16. Tucson, AZ (1 1/2 days, apartment) - I lived in Tucson for 1 1/2 days. I got a job at this hospice agency where Lyn worked. They were opening a branch in Tucson. I didn't really think the job through when I took it. I mean, I was going to be 90 miles from Lyn and anyone else I knew in the Mesa area. While my aunt and grandparents lived in Tucson, I knew it wasn't going to be the same. I quit the job on day two (something I would never do now), and moved back to Gilbert;


17. Gilbert, AZ - I'm baaack...for more pain and suffering. The walls didn't get any bigger, and neither did my patience;


18. Gila, Chandler, AZ- so instead of breaking up with Lyn and moving on, what did I do? Buy a home, in my name, but with her money, and move in together. After a few months, these walls began closing in, as well, even though the house was much bigger. I moved out in an attempt to save the relationship;


19. University Dr, Tempe, AZ (The Quadrangle Apartments with Shay) - luckily for me, my oldest friend, Shay, moved to Arizona a couple of months after me. She was living with a bunch of guys in a house, and was also ready to move on. I remember having coffee with her, talking about getting an apartment. This was long before there were coffee shops on every corner. I felt so grown up. She looked at me and said, "You need to move out." I listened. We moved into a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment about a mile from ASU. Almost immediately, Shay met her now husband, Frank, and was never around. I had the place to myself! I also caught Lyn in bed with her boss' son, and got a dog, which got us evicted;


20. Hayden Road (I think), Scottsdale, AZ (apartment with Shay) - Shay and I moved into the apartment complex where Frank lived with his friend, Raj. She wasn't officially living there with them, but she was. I decided, halfway through our lease, that I wanted to move back home. So I did;


21. Rolling Meadows, IL (apartment with my mother) - when I moved back home, my mother had an empty bedroom (or she made it empty for me is probably the right way to phrase it) I could use. I knew I wasn't going to be there for long, because I had plans on getting an apartment with my friends, Kevin and Javier. We found a place after only looking at one, and I moved out within three weeks. Whew...;


22. Barry Ave, Chicago, IL (Garden apartment) - this place was a dark, bare bones, exposed pipe nightmare...but it was a blast. I lived there with Kev and Jav while they were still at Loyola. Sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with their late night partying (I tried, trust me, I tried), because I had a job. Jav moved out about six months into our lease to help out at home, and then our friend, Dave moved in. The dynamic stayed the same: Fun. I met Cyndi while we were living here. She moved in two weeks after we started dating. I'm still surprised she didn't break up with me because of the disgusting apartment on Barry;


23. Ginger Creek Drive, Palatine, IL - the guys and I knew we were not going to renew the lease on the apartment, so my dad offered to let Cyndi and I stay with him. Cyndi counts this as one of the best places we have lived together. She really connected with my dad while we were there;


24. Pebble Beach Circle, Elk Grove Village, IL - I don't remember the circumstances why we left my dad's place and moved in with my mother. It may have been as simple as she had the space and she lived in Elk Grove. I'm not sure. We didn't stay there very long. In fact, while we were there, Cyndi had agreed to get an apartment with her sister in Palatine. She signed the lease, but never really lived there. I think the most we stayed at the Palatine apartment consecutively was for a week. I don't count that as "moving in";


25. Highland Road, Grayslake, IL - this is the house we were living in when we got married. We lived in this tiny little box (although it had three bedrooms) for 14 months. We never got attached to this house, even though it helps define our first few months as husband and wife. We kept the TV in the closet in this house, and only brought it out when there was something on we really wanted to watch (like a movie or a sporting event, etc.). I wrote almost every day, while Cyndi worked at her drawing table. People thought we were freaks because we didn't watch TV. We may be freaks, but it's not because we didn't watch TV;


26. Masters Lane, Round Lake Beach, IL - I still maintain we were tricked into buying this place. We were young and didn't know how real estate worked. We had an agent, but looked at this place on our own. The sellers agent convinced us to make her our dual agent, and kind of made us feel like we had to put in an offer or else we would lose the place. Little did we realize that the house was on the market for over a year. My dad bought the house from us a year later, thankfully. I hated that place;


27. Waveland Avenue, Chicago, IL - I miss this place. I wish we still owned it. We were three blocks west of Wrigley Field, and the layout of this place was amazing. Frederic was born while we lived here. We enjoyed our time together in the city. Going out with friends, going out to dinner, walking the neighborhood. I'm a city guy at heart, and if we ever moved back to Chicago, I would definitely want to be in Wrigleyville (or near it);


28. Blue Bell, PA - when the company I previously worked at went national, I was given the territory. Cyndi suggested that in lieu of flying back and forth every week and having the company endure the high expense of travel, we move. I did a case study on the costs of a rental apartment, offered to have the company pay the rent and we pay the rest of the expenses, and management agreed. We lived in Blue Bell for almost a year. It was a great time in our lives because we got to explore another part of the country. Frederic was still small enough to adapt to our need to explore, yet he began growing by leaps and bounds. Pennsylvania holds a special place in our hearts. We reminisce with fondness;


29. Elk Grove Village, IL - and we're back. I didn't see our house until the day we moved in. I figured that if Cyndi liked it, I would too. The good news is she can see potential in things.; she married me, right (I think she's still looking for the payout). She knew this place could be a home, with a little bit of work (and an open checkbook!). This has been the place we've called home for eight years. And it is...for now...

For those of you who stuck it out...thanks...I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did. The longest I've lived in one place is 11 years. We are almost near that number. What's that website again? Something like realtor.com...