Usually when I take a new job housing is somehow automatically attached. Whether campus housing temporarily or living on the facility, I have never really had to worry about finding a place to live. Well, this time it was different. I was on my own.
Or so I thought…..
My journey to Durham was not exactly a direct route. I wasn’t due to start my job until the 15th so I had a couple of weeks to live a bit of the nomad life. The journey started from Tennessee to Raleigh (thanks to Ginger for letting me store my car at her place). From Raleigh to Durham to catch a bus to DC. After a ride on the Metro, Laura’s house was the second destination.
This pit stop at the Messerly house was full of highlights, as many visitors inhabited the house from all of over the world. With a trip to DC and across the Bay Bridge to Annapolis, the following week took Laura and I to the Marsh. With the opportunity to earn a little extra money, the Marsh needed some counselors to help with the Day Camp. So for a week, I was known as Chief Heather and got to spend everyday playing in a pool with kids and more!
Let’s pause for a moment. Now remember during all of this I am without a home…a place of residence… an address. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was looking for places and making inquiries. When I returned, I had two places lined up to look at.
The Saturday before I was to start my job arrived. In transit back to Durham on the bus, we had some problems. We hit traffic and were going to arrive hours late to Durham. Thankfully I left my spare car key with Ginger. She was kind enough to drop my car off at the bus station. Because of the delay, I had to reschedule my viewings for Sunday evening.
Another friend came through for me at this point. An old college friend, Alicia, lived an hour and a half from Durham. I already had plans to stay at her place that evening. After church the following day I headed back to Durham to look at the places I had lined up.
I knew that I was taking some risks. I had been in correspondence with people in both places. I had years of experience living with roommate/housemates and saw no point in stopping the trend. One room was available right away to move into. The other wasn’t available until Wednesday. If the one that was ready to move into didn’t work out, what was I going to do? Where would I stay Sunday through Tuesday night? I had feeling everything was going to work out. And it did. Just not in the way I expected.
I started work on Monday, just as I planned. However, half of my stuff was making the commute to work with me. The room that was available right away didn’t work out. I still was with out a place to call home. God’s provision arrived in the shape of my friend Alicia’s grandmother. Betty lived only 20 minutes away from Duke and had a spare room.
After my available Wednesday hope fell through on Monday (another person was ahead of me in line), I started the search process once again. Thankfully, Betty was willing to let me stay beyond the originally thought day of Wednesday.
It only took one viewing. I didn’t have time to be picky. Out in the country, I found a room that was an edition to a house with its own private entrance and room for just me. One might call it a studio of sorts--an open room with large windows and a bathroom. Fortunately, I have never been one that has desired a large kitchen. The reason: this “kitchen” consisted of a microwave, two hot plates, and a mini-fridge that lived in the bathroom. Nevertheless, with one week of working at Duke under my belt, I needed a place to call my own. The house hopping came to an end. I finally had an address.
