ESSAY | MONTHLY THEME | PROMPTLY WRITTEN
Home Sweet Home
Gratitude Journal — Day 27
Maddy and I have lived in our small bungalow-style home since April of 2005 (give or take a few years for me during our moments of separation). When we first moved in, I was determined to create a space of comfort and peace for Maddy so that when s/he came off the road, s/he could just relax and think about nothing but enjoying those precious two days off every two weeks.
Being the OCD-inflicted soul that I am, I kept a daily cleaning list so that the house was always clean when Maddy arrived. I also kept everything in its place. I was almost fanatical about this. Yet, it allowed Maddy to come home, get home-cooked meals, and have no worries. My worries would begin again as soon as s/he left to go back on the road. The house would be a mess again (Maddy was obviously not the tidiest of people, at least not to my OCD standards) in just those two days and my two-week cleaning cycle would begin again.
All of this changed in May of 2008. Maddy had been involved in a serious accident where the young man who’d caused the initial accident ran out in front of Maddy’s truck as s/he was trying to go around the accident scene. This resulted in the young man’s death. Maddy was devastated and even though s/he’d been cleared of the young man’s…
