That night, I went back to the rental website to fill the vacancy because it didn’t make sense to wait. The house had been sitting all this time, waiting to generate income for us, and it was past time I did something about it. I decided to rent to the older gentlemen, but his application was no longer available. I was kind of bummed because I had already formed a picture in my mind of what he would be like based on the information he shared on the application, and now I’d have to start over. The plus side is that I found a young family like I originally wanted, so I accepted their application right away. In the morning, I got a notification saying they had moved in already, so I went over there after breakfast to introduce myself and get to know them. The application stated they were a married couple with twin infants. The house wasn’t exactly setup for two babies, but they can make it work.
As I approached the door, I overheard them arguing, and my whole body tensed up. They reminded me of Mama’s friends, who stayed with us and argued literally day and night. I hope to the Watcher these two are not like that. I pressed my ear to the door to see if I could get an idea of what the issue was. It turns out the woman was flustered because she saw a lost dog who needed help but ignored it. She felt guilty about it and wanted to go back and find the dog, but the husband didn’t get it. He was very dismissive and said dogs get lost all the time and it was none of her business if someone can’t keep track of their animal. Oh boy. This better not be a bad omen. I knocked, hoping to interrupt him berating her, and they let me in. Owen and Jilliana Sage are their names. Owen works at a store and seemed to have a good sense of humor, so maybe he’s not so bad. Jilliana is more serious and super smart. She works at the space center, but I don’t remember what she said she did there.
She tried to introduce me to the babies, Xavier and Zahava, but they both started screaming because Owen had the TV way too loud. Xavier calmed down enough to let me hold him, though. He was so tiny and made me miss Desiree at that age. I didn’t intend to spend the day with them, and they clearly had things to do, so I told them to call me if they needed anything and made my exit.
I had to pass by Chi Chi’s house on the way back home, so I stopped by to tell her we were moving to Gibbs Gardens soon. She was bummed about not being around the corner from us anymore, but relieved we weren’t leaving the city. Behind her eyes, however, there seemed to be more than just disappointment at losing her favorite neighbor. I asked if something was wrong, and in Chi Chi-like fashion, I got way more than I bargained for.
As she began this tale, my initial reaction was to beat myself up again about not being a good friend because the details started a while ago. But I stopped those thoughts before my brain ran away with them. We’re all grown with super busy lives. No one has time to be involved at such a granular level anymore, and no one is expecting us to know everything. I am a good friend, and I don’t have to know every detail to prove it. Come to think about it, my friends—minus Dub—know less about me than I know about them. Needless, I’m done with stressing myself about this.
Chi Chi’s woes began with her birthday a few weeks back. Like many women her age (especially when they are as fine as she is), she didn’t handle the adult birthday well. Of course, she knew her body would change, but like me, she didn’t expect her clothes to hang differently. Between that and the little lines creeping from the corners of her eyes and across her forehead, she’s feeling frumpy. She is still one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. Frumpy where?? Still, if the aging stuff was the only thing she had to deal with, she would be fine. The problem is all her other worries reinforce the aging issues. The short version of the story is her life has not turned out how she wanted at all. She once told me she wanted to remarry and have more kids, but all the dates she’s been on led nowhere. Now, as an adult, she’s thinking about giving up on that dream, especially when she’s about to be a grandmother! Karmine, her daughter, is grown grown now. She moved her boyfriend into the house, but she got pregnant, so they moved out. Chi Chi is all alone in the house with nothing but these crushing thoughts to keep her company, and she’s not doing that great.
I had no idea if it would help her, but I decided to share my story about my midlife crisis, especially because I didn’t really talk about it with Sophia. Even though her story is different, I felt everything she said. Life rarely turns out exactly how we plan because we never factor in trouble or change. Our plans are always perfect and positive. When change and trouble comes, we feel out of control, like our world is falling apart. But the world isn’t falling apart. It’s the same as it always was. We just haven’t taken off our rose-colored glasses yet.
I told Chi Chi everything would be okay, and she should look at everything from a positive perspective. Because she’s not starting a new family, she has the time to do all that living she said she never got to do because she got married and started a family super young. She also has the time to focus on her grandchild and helping her daughter when she needs her. She couldn’t do that while chasing after her own babies. And as far as her love life goes, she’s still really young and has all the time in the world to find the right man. And when she does, it will be all about them with no one else coming between them. They’ll grow old together and be annoyingly in love.
When I left her house, Chi Chi was in a better mood. With any luck, she’ll stay that way.
