Another New Beginning

New beginnings.  My kids have had a lot of these in the past few years.  New apartments, new jobs, new friends.   I remember how stressful it was back when I was the one with all of these life changes.  I've lived through it all and I'm glad to be more settled in my life.  

I find it exciting, though, to watch my children maneuver their way through this time in their lives.  Vance and I now have the roles of consultants.  We give support and help out in many ways,  but they are the ones who make the final decisions and do the work to carry them out.  Our financial responsibilities are also lessening as they begin careers and have a paycheck coming in.

Yesterday,  we moved Adam into his first New York City apartment.  He begins his teaching career in August at a high school in the Bronx.  Over the past weeks,  he has been painstakingly searching for a place to live in the city that he (and a roommate) can afford and where he can be happy.  He found it in Spanish Harlem.

We brought his mattress with us,  along with boxes of IKEA furniture to fill his 8.5 x 9.5 bedroom.  My job was assembling an armoire while Adam and his dad moved his things out of his dorm room.

The neighborhood was nice.  Trees lined the street.  The buildings were old but well kept and had a lot of character.

His apartment is in an old building over a small grocery.

This is the hallway outside his apartment.

You enter the apartment into the main living area which was clean and bright. The doorway to the left leads into his roommate's bedroom which is big and lit by two windows.

The kitchen is small with a serious lack of any countertop at all.  The bathroom door is in the middle of the kitchen.

On the other side of the bathroom door is the sink.  It is also lit by a large (although not very scenic) window.

Adam's bedroom is in the front of the apartment, entering through a doorway next to the kitchen stove.

The bathroom is small but nice.   It is also lacking any countertop.

It has a tiny sink and a miniature bathtub.  

But there is a window for light and ventilation!

This is the view from Adam's bedroom window.

I set to work assembling the wardrobe which he needs because his small bedroom also has no closet.

By the middle of the afternoon,  he was all moved in and a storage bed, desk, and armoire were put together. 

While his room is small,  it was cheery and bright and didn't feel claustrophobic.

He still has to put things away and work with is roommate to figure out the common areas, but he is happy with his choice of apartment.  He has only a 3 minute walk to the subway and a 15 minute ride to work.  A Target and Costco are located only a few short blocks away.  There is a definite ethnic feel to the neighborhood - which he enjoys.

I'm sure Vance and I will get to know the neighborhood more over the coming months, but we left with a good feeling that he will be happy here!