Would You Live Here?

When I was a teenager, my friends and I couldn't wait to get out of our houses and get a place of our own.  A place where parents could not tell us what to do.  We used to play a game called Would You Live There?  If we were riding in the car and drove by a ramshackled, delaptated house, we would point and ask each other, Would You Live There?  Of course, being idealistic and young, the answer would be, "Yes, I can make it work!" We were also a little competitive and as time wore on, we would point out worse and worse examples of places we would live, until we were actually saying we would live in a shed, or a tiny laundry room.  Our minds, ripe with creativity in all the ways we would decorate these spaces and make them functionable.  It's ironic, the first place I moved into was a tiny, old house on one acre.  I got a deal because it did not have a functionable kitchen.  I cooked on a hot plate, washed dishes in the bathroom and grabbed milk from a fridge that was about 1/2 an acre out back.  It was all I could afford and I lived there for about 6 months, when, at about 18 years old, I got my first one-bedroom apartment.  This one actually had a kitchen, a workout room, a pool and a balcony.  I thought I was living in The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous!!  Boy, had I made it to the top!  Of course, that was quite some time ago and I learned a great deal about who I am, what I wanted and needed to live, as well as what I can live without.  Still, when I see an old structure or dilapidated shed, I chuckle to myself and think, Would You Live Here?