Moving on is hard.

   On the 13th of March, I ate breakfast downstairs before going to school. I didn’t eat in the dining room though, why? A bunch of men were there, talking to my mom about a problem found in the house. What was the conclusion my mom decided on? Renovate the whole dining and kitchen room.

    This brought a whole impact. It was a change to something so big, something I’ve known for a long time. Before the start of the renovation, I snuck out at to take pictures, pictures of a place that was rotting, pictures of a place I wouldn’t be able to look at normally again. Letting go of things isn’t easy, especially if it’s something you’ve known for your whole life. But this wouldn’t only affect how I feel about the house, but how I’ve been living my life for the past few months.

    Since they’re working on the room, they obviously have to block us off from entering. That had a huge effect on our lifestyle at home. All the food and resources in our home are all cramped into one room. It looks like something you’d see on the street with the homeless living with it. So we can’t use our oven or sink, unless it’s the bathroom sink upstairs. Speaking of appliances, our fridge is in the middle of the living room.

    How do we eat collectively as a family? We sit at a small couch and eat our food on paper plates, sometimes we sit on the floor with the food on the couch. How do I eat breakfast? I sit at my normal desk, my keyboard pushed out of the way, and I eat on the desk. How are the dishes (when we use them) cleaned? My mom washes them in the bathroom in the sink or tub.

    This situation is horrible. For a while, every day felt the same: just wake up, eat breakfast in a small room, go straight downstairs and then to school, come back, eat dinner in a big room that’s filled up and stopping us from moving around it, then just go upstairs and do all my work there, then sleep. Sometimes I didn’t want to wake up, knowing I’d have to face the same cycle. I’ve literally gotten sick from this. Did my parents care? No. I’ve expressed how I felt, did they care? No. Whenever I have free time, what do I do? Spend time on my computer or phone. My parents complain about it, yet never realize I can’t do anything else since everything’s blocked off. I can’t play piano downstairs because the huge dump downstairs blocked it off. Every time my parents say it’s over soon, it isn’t. They’ve been at it for almost 2 months.

    Anyway, it’s May now, 8 days until my birthday. Can I celebrate it? Probably not. Am I insane for worrying over a literal kitchen? Can someone please help me out?

-Anthony “Salteh” S.