Roomies

The San Diego House The house we lived in back up in San Francisco was on the beach, as I said before. For the most part, it was a nice neighborhood, but it started to go bad during our last few years there. Now that we’re in our 60s, we’re settled in our San Diego home in an adult community that’s also on the coast, but our place is actually next to a lake, not the beach. We don’t travel as much as we used to now that we’re getting older, and many of our family members have passed on. I never had any siblings, so as an only child, I have no family left in Arizona to see. Angela does go to Germany every few years, and once or twice a year we drive up to NorCal, where Michelle and Jamie have family. We all have friends and old co-workers there. We bought a three-bedroom home with a full bath adjacent to the master bedroom and a three-quarter bath near the other two bedrooms, which are on the other side of the living room. You walk in the front door and have a huge living room and dining area. To the left, you have the master suite and kitchen; to the right, the other two bedrooms, bathroom, and utility area. All the rooms are a pretty good size, and now that we have so many gadgets compared to 20 years ago, we appreciate the space. It’s a beautiful modern home built a few years ago. Unexpected health issues arose for the couple who originally purchased it, and unfortunately for them, they didn’t get to enjoy the place for long. There is also a detached full-size garage with a huge storeroom running the length of it in the back. We did the same thing we did when we first moved into the San Francisco place and got all new furniture. We decided to take only what we absolutely needed and really wanted, and we had a shipping company drive it down to the new house. Michelle sold her pickup, and we all rode down in Angela’s SUV. Shortly after arriving here, Michelle got a small car, figuring it couldn’t hurt to have two vehicles since there are four of us. We have more breathing space around us. Our San Francisco house was flanked by other houses, and most of the time, the neighbors were quiet. When the neighborhood started to decline, there were often loud kids running and screaming between the houses, loud music, people up to no good on the beach, and a bunch of welfare bums slowly taking over the area. It was kind of sad, too, because it was so beautiful for most of the time we lived there. But the winters were a little too long and cold for our liking, and we came down here for the warmer weather. We discussed all kinds of possible places to retire but decided that Florida would be too humid, the desert too dry, and we definitely didn’t want anywhere that had snow. It’s expensive and a little too populated, but it is otherwise gorgeous here. Fortunately, we’re well off and in a great location. As I said, we’re not flanked tightly by houses here. One of the things that attracted us to this particular gated community (and we definitely scouted out several before choosing the one we wanted and officially moving down) is that the homes are more scattered than clustered. We don’t want to hear anyone’s TVs, and we certainly don’t want to disturb anyone with our own music or TV. This way, we feel like we have more privacy. At the same time, it’s nice to have met some very nice people around here and know we’re not isolated and alone, as much as we’ve always loved each other’s company. If we needed anything, our neighbors would be happy to help. No one seems to have a problem with our sexuality, not that we care. We never lie or hold back. We always introduce each other as our spouses, and people can either take it or leave it. We decided the master bedroom would actually be a room Jamie and I hang out in if we want to do things like listen to music, play on our laptops, or color in our adult coloring books. Instead of having closets and a bathroom between our bedrooms, we now just have one wall. The other bedrooms are back-to-back, and with the beds set up the way they are, I could literally reach back and touch Jamie’s pillow if I could put my hand through the wall. It’s kind of cool because it’s like we all sleep together, even though we’re still separate couples in our own rooms. We’re never in there except to sleep or if we want to chat privately with each other. And yes, sometimes we even manage to work in a little fun at our ages. The living room is for anybody to hang out in at any time. We all eat our meals in the dining room, which is right off the kitchen. The kitchen has a little alcove with built-in benches and a table, which has become Michelle and Angela’s little home office. You see, once a cop, always a cop. It’s in their blood. They may be retired, but fellow officers back up in San Francisco and locally consult with them at times. It helps fill their time and gives them more to do. We have a totally gorgeous view of the lake, and we still carry on the tradition of our special night. I’m not sure if I mentioned that, but every Saturday night we have a little slumber party in the living room, where we take all the couch cushions and crash together after a night of stocking up on junk food, binge-watching crap on TV, and chatting about this and that.