Roommates

While I have lived with romantic partners, I haven’t had a platonic roommate since my junior year of college. This changed in late 2020 when a young female brunette moved into my home. This started out as a temporary arrangement but ultimately became permanent. I eventually took on a second male ginger roommate in March 2022. He was looking for a home, and I had the extra space. They are not your typical roommates.

Even though I have a three-bedroom home, my two roommates insist on sleeping in my bed most nights. They have never claimed their own bedrooms; instead, they sleep on chairs and shelves and in corners. They are the most peculiar beings.

Neither contributes to the cleaning and upkeep of the house. They didn’t bring any furniture when they moved in. They walk around the house naked all the time. Even though I have tried, they both refuse to wear clothes. They leave their hair lying everywhere and never use the shower. Instead, they lick themselves clean whenever and wherever they please. It’s pretty obscene. They don’t cook or go grocery shopping; however, they are very demanding if I don’t feed them on a regular basis. The brunette will stare me down when she wants something, usually food. She always wakes me up early every morning, demanding breakfast. She has no respect for my need for sleep and is unconcerned that I still have an hour until my alarm goes off. The ginger one has no understanding of personal boundaries. He regularly crawls into my lap or onto the papers I am grading, demanding my immediate and sole attention.

The brunette is scared of loud noises. Lawnmowers, fireworks, and thunderstorms send her scurrying under my bed or into the bottom cabinet of the entertainment center. The ginger one walks on the kitchen counters with unwashed feed and eats my plants. He is also a severe catniphead. He goes mad for the stuff. He’d waste all of this money cat nip if he had any. They both prefer to drink the rainwater that collects in an empty dirty plant pot outside than the clean tap water I provide them inside.

Despite all this, we don’t have a one-sided relationship. I’m not just their sugar momma. They contribute significantly to the household and to my quality of life. They keep an eye on the house. They supervise the birds, squirrels, and other wildlife in the area. They always greet me when I come home and keep me company in the evening. They are eccentric creatures. I love to watch the ginger one try to catch squirrels through the window or the brunette cackle at birds to get their attention.
Most of all, watching them helps keep me present. They are always in the moment. They never discuss their past or worry about the future. They are just fully present with whatever is going on right now. If they need to nap, they nap. If they are lonely, they come to me for attention. They live very simple lives, and that’s enough for them.

We can all benefit from being satisfied and content with a simple life.

They have both inspired me to see the world from a different perspective. They have taught me that smelly feet and shoes aren’t always a bad thing, the delectability of a Sunday afternoon nap in the sun, the importance of meeting your needs to be your best, and that curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat but usually helps us grow.

They may knock my water glass over, demand to be fed before sunrise, and throw up on the couch with no remorse, but they enrich my life in ways I could have never imagined. While living alone has benefits, I wouldn’t trade my roommates for anything. They add a richness and fullness to life that living alone doesn’t provide.