Entry Three

In 2010, I finally got a job at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center/Health Care System.  Being unemployed sucked but I had always tried to remain positive.  I had a few hard days but I always got by & had great people in my life, who helped me.  By this time, I’m in an elected position for the VFW District which meant that I had a good chance of moving up the ranks, which would take a few years.  My involvement with the National VFW Women Veterans Committee was huge too.  I had to start letting go of my other involvements.  I remained busy, just had other responsibilities that I was committed to.

In May, 2012, I bought a house.  The idea to see if I even qualified or what I needed to do to set a goal to be qualified was planted in my head so I called a friend of mine, Dana, who is a Realtor and fellow Comrade.  I found out that day that I qualified for a decent amount so the house hunting began.  Dana would send me links after links and the first house I saw, I fell in love with. He agreed with me but of course, we kept looking.  Many current owners didn’t accept VA loans & a lot of the houses had mold or needed a lot of work.  When we decided to take a look at the house I loved, I knew immediately that it was mine.  It had a beautiful backyard with woods that border behind the fence line, a garage, spare room & it felt quant.  It was perfect for just me.  This caught me off guard. I had no idea that when I woke up that day of when this idea was given to me, that I would be planning to buy my own house, by myself too.  I had just renewed my apartment lease & couldn’t see myself being a home-owner with no experience at all.  Something in me just felt right though and I went for it.  7 weeks later, I was all moved in.  It was the best feeling in the world and I still feel a lot of pride.  Everything felt “right” and I rolled along with it.  I felt like I could breathe by enjoying a yard for once and not feeling crammed in a tiny space.  I had always imagined that I would just wait to be in a relationship before moving into a house.  I like the traditional role of a man providing the household and it made sense for two incomes.  I wasn’t even scared.  I had friends that doubted my decision because of the maintenance and money that came with it but I never worried about any of those things until it was time.  Somehow, I just knew in my heart that I was guided to do this.