There are many rites of passage throughout life. Graduation. Driving a car. Marriage. First paycheck. First kid. First debt. But of all of them, one that sticks out for me the most was getting a place of my own.
It was actually tied to taking my first on-air television gig out of town. I remember looking for apartments in south Alabama, and using a rather different method of choosing between the top two candidates. One was in Enterprise and the other was in Ozark — and no offense to the fine people of Ozark, but I had a sense that getting my second job would be easier with an “Enterprise postmark” on the resume.
I remember the freedom of living alone. I remember those Saturday mornings when I would postpone getting dressed, walking around my apartment however I wanted to, because it was mine, and I could, (and no one had yet done those teevee sweeps stunts where the UV lamp revealed all manner of ugliness, but I digress…)
But what about that moment when I truly did have my own place for the first time? I really don’t remember it — and the question arises because my son has just struck out on his own. [Read more...]
