This is the house that I lived in when I went to college. At the time, it was painted blue and a little run down but I loved living within it's walls. So many fun memories with good friends surface when I see it. So, when I moved back to Athens six years ago, I did a drive by as a walk down memory lane.
To my surprise, the house was for sale, so I grabbed a flier from the For Sale sign as a keepsake. As I scanned the information sheet I noticed that they were advertising the house as a three bedroom/two bath home. This was strange to me because when I lived in the house it only had one bathroom. I shrugged it off and put the flier in an old journal for safe keeping.
Little did I know that the location of the second bathroom would become a mystery that would infiltrate my dreams. At first, I had a dream that I was searching the house for the new restroom. It soon became a recurring dream that would surface at least once a month for the next six years. It drove me insane wondering where the second bathroom could have been built. I had considered several times doing the research to find out but never had the nerve to actually investigate it.
Until yesterday...I scheduled an interview for a story that I am working on for Patch and it just so happened to be located in a government building across the street from my old house. After the interview was over, I drove past the house a few times. Finally, I built up the nerve to walk up the steps, ring the doorbell, and inquire about the location of the second bathroom.
My heart raced as I prepared my greeting for the unsuspecting tenant of the house. "Hi, my name is Leigh and I lived in this house in college and I know that it sounds crazy but I've just got to know where the second bathroom is in your house." Just saying the words in my mind made me feel like a creepy person. The doorbell rang and I waited. I waited a bit longer until I accepted that no one was home. There was no way that I was leaving that porch without solving the mystery.
I built up all my nerve and peeked into the stained glass on the front door. It was then that I saw the bathroom door! They had taken a nook from the living room, closed it off, and put a door to the bathroom in the entryway hallway. I stood there and smiled, I could have cried. The mystery of the second bathroom had finally been solved and I slept a dreamless night last night.
10 comments:
Cold-chills-O-Rama!!!! I remember this house in college Leigh! So many funny memories with you, Erin & Brian!
I love these old Southern houses with the fantastic porches. What a great story & trip down memory lane!
Glad the mystery is solved!
That is intense and crazy! I was guessing that the bathroom was part of the back porch and it would be connected to the bedrooms across the hall. Or maybe your closet became a powder room? I love that house.
Ah Ha! Mystery solved! I lived in a similar cool house during some of my college years! What great memories!!! :)
! I've always heard that when we dream about a house, it's a metaphor for our soul! However, in your case it seems as if your subconscious was trying very hard to solve the "where is the bathroom" puzzle! So, it was both delightful and creepy that one of life's little mysteries seeped into your dream world.
May your dreams now be peaceful!
I wonder how many other readers have had a similar experience?
Oh, I mean to tell you my mother's dream/world intrusion. For years, she dreamed that a man walked into her bedroom and just stared at her as she slept. She'd wake up in a cold sweat. This dream went on for several years until she moved into a new house.
The shadowy man in her nightmare was actually the husband of a neighbor! After seeing him in the flesh, she never had another nightmare about that man's face!
Twilight zone stuff!
Glad you found the bathroom!
We used to live in Norfolk in an older community built by military men who had moved up in ranks. They retired with good pensions and built these elaborate homes that were just breathtaking. Ours was 3 stories with a huge wraparound porch and 2 front doors. When I lived there I always dreamed of knocking out some windows on the 2nd floor and 3rd floor to make those balconies with railings that you see in the South. After we sold the house I always wondered if the man who bought it thought about doing the same thing.. the house just looked like it was designed for them.
LOL I laugh because I think I would have done the same thing. great story.
Looks like the perfect place for college kids to live. Classic!
=)
PS. Glad you solved the mystery...
Glad you figured it out. That would have driven me crazy!
Post a Comment