My home is approximately forty years old. I didn’t love it when I purchased it seven years ago. What I really wanted was the apartment with the wraparound balcony overlooking the jacaranda tree. This was more a practical choice but it was a place to call my own.

It had been refurbished but now things are falling apart. The exhaust fan in the bathroom went first, the rollers came off the shower doors, the handles fell off the kitchen cabinets and the kitchen tap is droopy. I tell myself I’ll get around to it but never do.

I wish I had more sun and an uninterrupted view of the sky. Instead I see ugly brick buildings up close but there are still trees I can spot.

From the kitchen window, I can admire the smooth bark and straight lines of the gum tree, from my living room I have a clear view of a mulberry tree and from another room, there’s a palm tree I can spot if I look up over a building.

I wonder if I’ll miss this place when I leave one day. It has served me well.