A milestone

This week, we’ve reached milestone on our path to retirement – Drew is moving to his own apartment! The apartment search and setup process has been an education for all of us, but for Drew in particular. The first lesson was that it is ridiculously expensive to rent in this area! Drew works full time, but there is no way he could afford to cover all of the expenses on his own. Since most kids his age can stay at home with Mom and Dad for a few more years, we have volunteered to help him out for awhile. His finances will still be tight, but at least it is doable. 

 Getting everything set up for the apartment has also been a challenge. It has been so long since Brett and I started out, that we forgot what it was like to do all this when you have no credit history established. The apartment required a cashier check or money order for the first payment. Rental insurance needed to be set up and Drew needed to get his own auto insurance since he would no longer be on our policy. USAA, as always, was terrific to deal with and the insurance was taken care of pretty easily. Drew also needed to have the utilities switched to his name before he could get the apartment keys – the power company, Dominion Virginia Power, was straight forward. A few minutes on the phone and an initial deposit was all that was needed. Unfortunately, the gas company, Washington Gas, was a completely different story. After Drew spent 30 minutes on the phone with them and got nowhere, Brett decided to help out. Two days, multiple phone calls, and a couple of escalations to a supervisor later, Drew was finally able to get an account set up in his name. Hopefully, now that Drew has rent and utilities in his name, getting the next apartment will be a little easier. 

 All three of us are suffering from mixed emotions. Moving out of your parent’s house is always a big step. I think Drew is excited to be out on his own, but is also nervous about the responsibility that comes along with it. In my case (and I think Brett’s as well) there is pride in the man that Drew is becoming; nervousness about whether he will be OK on his own, particularly after we move out of the area; some guilt that we are pushing him out of the nest, maybe before he is really ready; sadness that we won’t be together all the time; and excitement as we look forward to our new adventure. When Drew went off to college, we knew he’d be coming back home so this is completely different. As a parent you know this day is coming but I don’t think any of us are really ready for it. I can only imagine how our parents felt when Brett and I moved away to DC where keeping in touch was a once a week call home. Fortunately we now have lots of technology to help us stay connected.