Trying On Someone Else's Life

Last month, I discovered a way to get as close as you can get to trying on someone's life: Housesitting. I was in Dallas for the month with the kids to both work and visit family/friends. My stepmother had made it clear to my dad that she did not relish the idea of us occupying their guest room... which upset my dad so was causing a problem. My mom was happy to have us, but she had turned the guest room into an art room. That meant a month of sleeping on the couch. A hotel was way too expensive.

That's when Mom got the idea of us housesitting for a couple of different friends who were out of town.

The first home was a couple with a little girl. It is lovely sprawling home on the edge of Dallas and Richardson. Very different from mine back in here in suburban DC. It was a ranch style with a courtyard in the center. The family room, living room and master bedroom wrap around that courtyard with a playground and grill/patio area in the rear. Now, the neighborhood is like mine in the typical suburban chain businesses and there is a wooded walking path that winds it way through it.

Also, the wife shares my passion for cooking so had a well stocked and well equipped kitchen. It was a pleasure to cook in that kitchen. And she must love to entertain as her dining room/living room is set up so perfectly for it. It is designed for comfort and conversation. The couple of dinner parties we hosted went wonderfully.

She also has dogs who are clearly attached to her as they quickly became attached to me, another dog lover. And if our shared interests, tastes and motherhood weren't enough common ground, it turns out we're in the same industry! Though, she still works for an agency whereas I went out on my own.

But I think it was walking her dogs in her neighborhood talking to her neighbors that was the most surreal. Effortlessly, I blended right in as I would have chosen nearly every thing in her world myself. In fact, I found myself wondering if this would be my life had I chosen to move back to Dallas rather than DC all those years ago?

After we left that house, we moved into a young musician slash lawyer's home in the Lakewood area... walking distance to White Rock Lake. He was getting married then off to his honeymoon. He had all the grown up boy's toys in this fabulously decorated home. But he clearly was no chef and rarely entertained. Which is probably why it is up for sale. (The happy couple is moving into her home.)

The home was luxurious but felt lonely to me. But maybe it was peaceful for a man with a very busy life. What I loved about it though was that I'm 99% sure his mother decorated. He had a few photos of her about as well as there being some distinctive touches in this Man-Land that felt like a Mother's Touch. This charmed me.

It was also very interesting to have scary dogs. He owned a pair of large, broad-chested boxers. When I'd walk those dogs, even though they were well trained, you could see people scattering with wary looks. It gave me a certain thrill actually. A sense of power... one that possibly created a swagger in my stride.

It made me curious about the owner. Is that why he had these scary dogs? Was he seeking as a sense of power?

I peeked in his closet to check out his clothing and shoe size... sure enough, he is a smaller man. I'd put him around 5 foot 7. Did his dogs do for him what they did for me? I relished it.

So there you go... I got to experience a path not taken as well as the thrill of being intimidating.