We all take central heat and air for granted. However, I can tell you from personal experience that we are TRULY blessed to have it!
The house I live in was not originally exclusively mine. This was Gary's house. I have lived here for almost 17 years, but he had the house ten years before me.
I am not Gary's first husband (for the record, he is not mine either..even though we have been together for almost twenty years....ack, ack...how can I be getting this old)??? He was married to a guy named Kyle before me. A year after they bought the house (under the most odious terms I have ever seen) Kyle died of AIDS. The terms of Gary's "sorta" mortgage were ridiculous. He and Kyle bought the house under a provision called "Contract For Deed". Don't EVER do this. Basically it means that the previous owner maintains the deed and the new owners pay (in this case, her) anything she wants while she keeps the mortgage and the deed to the house. We will get to the end of this arrangement in a minute.
Gary and I dated for a year before I moved in. I had a lovely three story townhouse in another part of the city that I enjoyed. I always liked this house...the size of the house itself, a guesthouse...and the huge property appealed to me. Still, I refused to put any money into it until I was sure Gary and I would survive as a couple. I kept my townhouse for the first entire year of our dating.
Gary could not really afford anything except the mortgage after his first husband died. He was truly house-poor. Although he made a decent living...the woman that sold him the house was charging 19% interest and in ten years he had yet to pay one dime on the principal. The house was virtually empty of furniture and had NO central heat and air....only window units and ONE single floor furnace that only heated the living room.
I lived here for that year burning up in the summer and literally FREEZING in the winter. It was horrible. I can only imagine what people did before c/h and air. How did those people survive in plantations and English manor houses with only fireplaces? I remember sitting next to the fireplace in this house for days at a time, barely moving.
After a year living here with the house and Gary I decided to use some of my trust fund money from my mother to simply pay off the house and completely own it (for the record, Gary and I jointly own this house...I signed over half to him the day I paid it off).
Within weeks, the A/C/Heating folks were on the premises putting in a rather elaborate and complicated system. Houses which are 100 years old don't switch over very easily. The upstairs has it's own units and the downstairs has two. Window units (which were built into the walls were removed and replaced by vintage stained glass). We left the beautiful iron grate in the living room, but instead of a heater it is now the return for the a/c unit. One thing I'm really glad I did was leave the wall gas heater in the downstairs bathroom. The new A/C people called it "old fashioned" but I love it. I can heat the bathroom without heating the house when it isn't too cold. Besides, it reminds me of my Grandmother's house. She had three or four of them.
All of this got me thinking....especially on my trek to the grocery store. I'm sure many people cannot afford central heat and air. I live in a very weird neighborhood. My street is amazing. Stunning houses sitting on huge acerage with gates. The neighborhood came into existence about 115 years ago. The houses that surround us are not that great. Some of them were built at the same time but they housed the servants, etc. that worked for the houses on my street. I see window units, etc. in their houses when I walk or drive by. It is about 12 degrees in Dallas right now. I SO, SO very feel for the people living around me without central heat and air.
I am grateful for what I have and I am thinking about those that don't!!! That one year in the house without it taught me to be REALLY appreciative.
I'll be thinking of my neighbors...especially the elderly...and hope everyone is okay...especially since it is not supposed to warm up here for days.
If you know someone that lives without heat...maybe ask them over for tea or something. I think we should all do something for those less fortunate...especially if they are cold.
Yours, Bratprince
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