In our search for an apartment, we checked out a few different neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Trying to figure out the best place to land was tough, being I didn’t know anything about the surrounding areas. Ultimately, I liked an apartment in Santa Monica, that was maybe a couple miles from the ocean, even though the ocean in Santa Monica is down a cliff and across a freeway. The layout of the apartment was nice and I thought would work for us, even though it was a one bedroom. I had hoped to find a two bedroom, so that I would have a guest room for my parents to stay in. But right now, two bedrooms in the area were running way to high for what we could afford. Then, that night we were looking in the paper we came across an apartment that seemed to good to be true and we had to check it out.
The next day we found ourselves in Beverly Hills, CA! I was looking at a two-story apartment that was two bedrooms with a huge kitchen, lovely living area with lots of windows and light, and an enclosed deck and balcony off the master bedroom. It was such a great price...I couldn’t believe it! It was dreamy compared to everything else we had seen. I ran out of the master bedroom onto the balcony and yelled down to my mom, “You gotta check this out!” I was so excited. My mom thought it was tremendous too. Not to mention…it was in Beverly Hills! The management company had closed for the day by the time we saw it, so the next morning we showed up at their offices before they opened with money in hand. I was ready to sign on the dotted line. When they opened, I rushed in and said, "I am ready to rent the two bedroom in Beverly Hills!" When I mentioned the rent amount, the owner of the management company said, “Wait a minute, you have the wrong apartment. You are referring to the one bedroom next door. The two bedroom is twice as much.” I was devastated. My heart sank. We couldn’t afford twice as much. I said, “Oh...we didn’t see the one-bedroom. I guess we’ll have to go back and check it out.” As I walked out of his office, with my long face, I'm sure my mom could tell by the look on my face the news wasn’t good. She was as disappointed as I was. She remained positive though and said “Well, lets go check out the other apartment in that building then.” So back we went, to check out the one-bedroom next door in our price range. When I opened the door initially my heart fell. It was nothing like the apartment next door. There was not a lot of natural light even though it seemed fairly spacious. It was actually the exact same apartment I had wanted in Santa Monica. The layout was identical. Not only that, it was $200.00 less per month, than the one in Santa Monica, because it didn’t have a refrigerator. We would have to buy one. The price was fantastic and I knew my husband would be happy about that. It took a moment for me to process this. As disappointed as I was, it felt right for some reason. I had wanted the one in Santa Monica and was sure that would be our apartment. This apartment was the exact same but five blocks from Rodeo Drive! I was in a really nice neighborhood and half a block from an elementary school. This neighborhood felt very welcoming. I think this is our apartment, I thought. We were going to live in Beverly Hills! I was in disbelief and relieved, all at the same time, we had found a place to live. Hooray for Hollywood!
It wasn’t easy leaving San Diego. We had so many memories there. We had met there, fell in love there, gotten married there, and made our first home together there. Not to mention, we had family and friends still living there. The only consolation was we would only be a couple hours away. We could still come back for family gatherings and special occasions. It was a new adventure we would take together, and the glitz and glam of Beverly Hills and Hollywood had us intrigued and excited for our new life. Moving from a three bedroom home to a one bedroom apartment, took a lot of downsizing. We were going from suburban life to city life. We sold a lot of our belongings and simplified. We said our goodbyes, loaded up our vehicles, and a moving van, and were on our way. My parents followed us up there and helped us with the move. The whole thing was surreal. It was so unbelievable and yet so exciting. We had no idea what God had in store for us in Beverly Hills and what our future there would hold. We were thrilled at the opportunity to make a good living, as we had been struggling for some time. It would be a relief. I wasn’t sure if I would get a job, but had a thought I might get involved in the film business too. I had thought about becoming a makeup artist being I had some experience with my own business. The great thing was our nephew had connections in the business and that would help us a lot. I wasn’t thinking about all that so much now though, I was just so thrilled. All the possibilities of this new life danced in my head like popcorn popping.
I didn’t realize it initially, but my father had wondered what this move was all about as well. He wondered if God had plans for him in the Los Angeles area. He was always seeking out new ways to get out his God given message, and had felt even more of a push since his heart attack, he wondered if there would be opportunities in this new city. He was certain there would be. In addition, we were giving up our home in San Diego and their place to stay for the winter. It was going to impact them - a lot. They had sold their motorhome, as it had become costly to maintain, even though it wasn’t being used, so that was not an option. They did have friends in San Diego but it wouldn’t be the same as staying with family, and it would be harder to stay long-term. We didn’t have room for them to stay for long periods of time in our new place. Unfortunately, we could not afford the two-bedroom, rent was much higher in Beverly Hills than it was in San Diego. There was a lot of uncertainty for all of us, but we all moved forward knowing that God would work it all out in the end. We had faith, because we knew that He was working in all of this - that was clear - even though many other things were still a mystery. So, we all made the best of the circumstances and just took one day at a time.
Upon moving in, an elderly woman from upstairs came down to welcome us to the building. She was lovely and seemed very refined. She was inquisitive and friendly. She wasn’t sure who the new tenants were going to be and was excited to know, as she had seen us moving all of our things in the apartment. She had lived in the building for over 25 years. She visited with my parents and my mother introduced me, as I was running in and out of the apartment. She made us feel very welcome. It was nice, being we were strangers in a strange land. My mother remarked later on what a nice surprise it was to get such a warm welcome from one of our neighbors. I didn’t think too much of it initially because I was so overwhelmed with moving to a new city, in a new apartment, had so much to do in front of me and my husband was starting a new job. My mind was swirling. I couldn’t process much in that moment. Ironically, I would come to understand in time that God chose that apartment for us and the woman from upstairs...would become a very important person in my life.
♥️LGOF