I often asked myself ‘Why did I buy this?’ Four expandable wooden trellis packages took up space in our storage closet for two years. Even when I purchased them, I asked myself ‘Why am I buying this?’

When my daughter and I decided to move, I offered the trellises to two people. They each declined. I felt peculiarly pleased. I couldn’t even bring myself to put these ‘useless things’ into my carloads of downsizing donations. ‘Why not?’ I wondered.

There was a rental ad for a unit in an apartment building in our preferred location in the city. Ground floor facing a parking lot with no patio. While we made plans to view it, I kept seeing a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ balcony and the same numbers ‘101’ I’d been seeing ‘pop out’ at me for over a year. I was puzzled.

The day arrived for our viewing. Once in the building, the manager informed us that the advertised apartment was already rented but another unit was available. We were shown ‘101’ with a lovely little balcony.

On the day we moved in and began unpacking I now knew exactly where my wooden trellises and climbing ivy plants would go.

(July 8, 2020- Shelley Wilson)