I arrived in town the night before with my mom and checked into a little motel. I would be starting my first job in three days, and I needed to find a place to live. My plan was to find a place to live on Monday, find some furniture and move in on Tuesday, and start work on Wednesday. It was a crazy plan.

We stopped at Hardee's to grab a biscuit and a paper to begin our search. A lady heard mom and I talking in line and introduced herself. She was the secretary at a local church and gave me the name of a lady from her church who worked in real estate. Then, she looked at me, gave me a hug, and said I could stay with her if I didn't find a place to live soon. I knew then that life would be just fine in this new place.

By the way, I was a day off on my timeline. I found the house; furnished it with help from a new coworker whose grandmother-in-law was moving into an assisted-living facility; and was sleeping in my first real place on Thursday night. :-)