I made my way to Huntsville, Mom at my side.
I had to run by the Court House to get a copy of the deed to my house.
If I died and my deed was not readily available, things would get difficult for my executor. And…, I couldn’t find my deed. So, off to the Court House I went.
I hadn’t been to that side of Huntsville, the North Side, in years. My, how it had grown.
The news had recently reported that Huntsville was now the biggest city in Alabama; it showed.
The place was bustling.
Old buildings renovated with lofts for people to live in, “I’d love to live in a loft. Come down to the bottom and eat at one of these restaurants.
Maybe bring my laptop and go into the Coffee Shop and write. Other writers would look at me writing, and I’d look at them writing… Oh, what fun,” I said.
Everything I saw looked renovated and occupied.
“I wonder how much it costs to live in a loft,” I said.
I parked in front of the Court House and walked inside.
Upon entering, I had to go through a metal detector and maybe even an X-Ray machine.
I said what I always say to the Officer in this situation, “Um, I have suspenders on and a Colostomy and Urostomy.”
“Okay, Sir. Put the items in your pocket into this basket and walk through, and we’ll go from there.”
“Yes, Sir,” and I did as directed. And there were no problems.
The Officer cleared me to go into the Court House only to find out that the “Deeds Office” had moved to another building. So, back to the car I went.
Over at the next Government Building, I walked in and went up to the window.
“You need to go to the kiosk and get a ticket, sir, and then wait for your number to be called,” the lady behind the window said.
“Oh, crap. I’ve heard about this ‘ticket’ system. I’m gonna sit there until I die, and right after I’m dead, she’ll call my number.” I get a ticket from the kiosk and set.
My number was 979. It might as well have been 666.
After sitting for less than thirty seconds, a computer speaks over the loudspeaker, “Now taking ticket number 979 at window three.”
“Wow. That wasn’t too long at all.”
I get to window three and quickly get the deed to my house.
The cost was $1 Dollar. I happened to have four quarters in my pocket, so I paid with that and left.
I decided to go by my house while in Huntsville and visually check it out.
See, when the doctors told me that I should move back home and no longer live alone, I turned my house over to a real estate company and let them rent it out.
With all the laws for renters, I do not know anything about the person who lives in my house, and I’m not allowed to drop by and go inside without a few days’ notice to the renter. I am allowed to drive by and look at it, and I hadn’t set eyes on my house in several years. So, I really wanted to see the ol’ place.
Driving over to Southeast Huntsville, where my house is, was shocking.
The whole place had grown up.
There used to be an old, run-down laundry mat, that I used more than a few times back in the day, that was now gone, and a brand new gas station had been built in its place.
A whole area of new Town Homes was being built along with several other buildings going up.
I get to my house.
“I used to sit right there in my chair and drink beer,” I thought to myself while looking at the garage.
The person living there had a little flag on a pole, and the word “Home” was written on the flag.
“Aw. It’s his Home,” Mom said.
“Yeah. That makes me happy,” I replied.
“It still looks good, son.”
“Yeah, I took better care of the Flower Garden, but it does look good. I’m happy for the fella. I’m glad we drove by.”
After going down “Memory Lane” for a few more seconds, I drove on.
I’d like to go back sometime this Summer and get a Hotel Room and walk around Downtown. I’ll bet I could find a lot to write about.
Once we got back home, Mom and I drove over to the Cemetery to check on our loved ones graves.
“Decoration Day” is coming up soon, and we needed to get an idea of what we were going to put on the graves of our family.
That, though, is a story for another day.
That’s all for now.
Love you,
–Lynn
