The Truth About War Of The Roommates Part 2: The Lease Debacle
Shane was initially on the lease on his own. When I moved in in 2022, I was an addendum to that original lease. There's nothing much to talk about here… I got approved to move in, signed the addendum, moved in, and I thought that would be the end of it. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.
When I spoke at OCALICONLINE 2022 (OCALICONLINE-Only One Place I Can Go), I took the entire week off of work. Now at this point, Shane and I were in Era 2 of War Of The Roommates. As a refresher, Jessica had started having issues with me, which caused Shane and I to start having issues, even though we had worked through them before.
Between OCALICONLINE sessions, I was searching for new apartments because I was over all the drama. But I didn’t know when my lease was up. There were 15-minute breaks between each session, and I called my landlord’s office at one of those times. The receptionist said she would find it and get back to me.
During the next session, I got a callback but let it go to voicemail so I could pay attention. Basically, what had happened was when I initially signed the addendum, Shane didn’t sign it, and if I wanted to keep living there we needed to sign it again.
I thought this was an amazing opportunity. I had no legal ties to the apartment, and I started frantically looking for new apartments so I could move out asap. Before I had a chance to find a new apartment, however, Dad and I had a conversation. “You know,” he said after I had told him about the situation, “you should try to make it work with Shane.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You haven’t really tried to fix things with him yet, and he has Down Syndrome. He can’t really help it. With the advocacy you’re trying to do, it will be good practice to continue to live with him,” Dad explained.
Now, my dad is one of the most successful people I know. He moved to Columbus at 17, and after graduating college and marrying Mom, he started a business from nothing that has supported my family since before I was born. He has the ability to solve any problem that life throws at him in the most creative way possible. Sometimes, I think he gets frustrated that no one else in the world solves problems the way he can.
What I’m saying is if he were in my position, he could have lived with Shane and worked through all of the issues that Shane and I have had… but I’m not him. The only reason I stayed in the apartment was because I wanted to prove myself. Not just to Dad but to everyone. I wanted everyone to think that I was capable enough to survive on my own, and when I stopped staying at the apartment for a third time, I really felt like I was a failure. This is why I lied to everyone about staying at the apartment. The only people who knew the truth were my family, my “sisters” and Marshall, and Paige… And quite honestly, if I could have pulled it off without letting them know, I probably would have lied to them about it, too.
To be continued….
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