CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
When Melissa and I were living in Wichita, we set up a program of financial planning and frugality. With our two salaries, housing allowance, and careful monitoring of our expenses, we were able to save some money by the time I got discharged from the Air Force. And when we got to Fresno, my status as a veteran worked in our favor, too. The required down payment was zero for veterans when buying a house, although I remember us opting to make a small down payment. After living in our rented apartment for about three months, one of my biggest dreams finally became a reality. We were able to qualify for a small, modest house in a warm, welcoming neighborhood, and we moved into our three-bedroom Summerville model home in June 2003.
We soon became acquainted with our neighbors, who all seemed like great people. Many of them were fellow dog owners, so we were able to arrange play dates for Kita at the school nearby.
Our neighbors on the left were a hospitable, good-hearted couple named Mary and John, who had two adult children. On the other side was Brien, a good-natured, hardworking, humble guy whom I would enjoy many beers with through the years, always accompanied by his best friend, a huge mastiff dog. Brien custom painted boats and sometimes enjoyed racing them.
Our new home had a small backyard and a two-car garage. I set up the Body Solid EXM-2000 S home gym that I had bought in Wichita in the garage and put my treadmill next to it. I was thirty-one years old, in good shape, and felt stronger than ever.
There were grocery stores and many types of restaurants and pizza parlors all within less than a mile of our house, and the local elementary school was right behind us. I would wake up in the morning to the sound of kids playing outside. It reminded me of the children’s voices on one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums, The Wall, but there were no teachers screaming “If you don’t eat your meat, how can you have any pudding?” at these kids, thankfully. Sure, there were a few mornings when I would complain about all the kids screaming while I was trying to sleep in. But it also brought back memories of my own childhood and how happily my friends and I used to run around at Cumhuriyet Ilkokulu from first to fifth grade. It seemed like my American dream was coming together again, and after so many failures, this time I was going to make it work.
The following year, in 2004, my mother came back to the US to visit us again. She was thrilled to see our cute little house in such a cozy neighborhood. Having seen me live in some very tough conditions in the past, this upgrade in my lifestyle — not to mention my relationship with Melissa — brought tears to her eyes. She told me how proud she was of me, but at the same time reminded me over and over that without Melissa, I could never have made any of this happen. A strong, ambitious partner had been crucial to the success I was achieving in life, and I was very much aware of that.
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