It will be a relief to leave behind literal sewage backed up into our basement all the time, due to archaic, inadequate infrastructure.  When we report it, people never believe what we live with until they witness it for themselves.  Then they’re astonished that there are those who actually live like this and have no recourse, because we’re poor in a poor area, and nobody gives a f–k.

Likewise with the water, electrical, and power grids and systems that well-off people take for granted–we can’t.  People resign themselves to this neglect, so it’s perpetuated.  Those who can move away do, while those who can’t afford to, make do with scraps and low expectations.

I know that moving and buying a house, taking some control of our situation, are not some magic panacea to life’s dilemmas.  I have no such illusions.  It doesn’t give meaning or purpose to my life.  For me, it’s more like a last minute reprieve from the little hope or prospects I had for surviving what time I have left, for which I’m grateful.

I’ve learned from recent experience not to get my hopes or expectations up too high, because we can never control all the moving parts.  But it’s another chance to start again, on our own terms, not subject to others’ agendas or ignorance, and maybe even get closer to my family in whatever time is left.

I may not get to accomplish anything much in my lifetime, but committing to something, however modest, and seeing it through, has to count for something.

Erev cheers from the Skullies.