A New Home Brings New Learning Opportunities

Recently, my husband, Jared, and I decided to move into a new home.

We’d been contemplating the idea since our daughter, Cittie, was born almost three years ago. Yet somehow, financial constraints always held us back.

We wanted to be full-time parents to Cittie, at least during her formative years, so we refused to take regular jobs and built our own business instead. Jared also happens to have hemophilia and a seizure disorder — and because of these conditions, he’s had a hard time finding gainful employment. Entrepreneurship just seemed like a perfect fit for us at the time.

While entrepreneurship can be lucrative, it also has inherent risks. Because of these, we couldn’t jump into a big investment, like a house, without having second thoughts. So, we stayed in a shared family home.

Recommended Reading

June 29, 2020 Columns by Alliah Czarielle

Putting Disability in the Entrepreneurial Spotlight

Life in our old place was convenient, and we’re thankful for the comforts we had back then. But as we got older, we wanted to learn how to do things on our own. Yet this proved difficult to achieve when other people took on household responsibilities just so that “the sick kid” didn’t have to.

We also wanted to start obtaining our own investments, since a person with disability can always benefit from stable financial footing. When one has a chronic illness, a medical emergency can arise anytime, and hospital stays can be expensive!

Last year, the pandemic forced various companies to establish work-from-home programs. Entrepreneurs also struggled to keep their businesses afloat, and inevitably, our own small business was affected.

With this being the case, I thought now might be the right time for me to find employment while working other side jobs. Our daughter is much bigger now, and she could use some training in independence. I feel confident that I can still be present for her, even while working full time.

Now that Jared and I have a new source of income, we feel more confident about having our own place. But instead of jumping into homeownership with zero knowledge of how it works, we took a chance at renting our own space. It’s tiny, but we’re doing our best to make it feel like home. And so far, it does! (In fact, as I type this, Jared is enjoying decorating our brand-new accent wall while Cittie tries to help in the most adorable fashion.)

Cittie attempts to decorate with Daddy Jared. (Photo by Alliah Czarielle)

We’ve already learned so much in the past few days we’ve spent fixing up our new home — from organizing a small place to make it look and feel spacious, to buying kitchen supplies, to fixing a broken sink. Jared has learned a number of handyman skills as well — those that are safe for him to do, of course. We know we’ll need all this practical knowledge once we’re in our “forever home.”

Upon doing the math, it appears that we’ll still need a higher income before we can seal the deal on our ideal home. But for now, we’re thankful for what we have, and we’re determined to make it work.

In the next year, we plan to learn as much as we can while we’re on our own. Jared wants to learn to be more responsible for his conditions without other people’s supervision. Surely more challenges will come our way, and we pray that we’ll pick up the skills to deal with them as they come.

***

Note: Hemophilia News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Hemophilia News Today or its parent company, Bionews Services, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to hemophilia.