Stacey Van Skiver’s house was delivered on Monday. He bought the lot three and a half years ago and it was paid for in March. There’s still a few things to sort out though.

The contractor will be working for at least another three weeks to finish. There’s plumbing to hook up and the siding needs to go on the ends. What could take a lot longer is electric hook-up. Fortis has been on strike since June and will no doubt have quite a backlog. Still, Stacey hopes to be in before the end of September.

It will be quite a change. For seven and a half years he has been living in a small travel trailer. When asked about how that was, he says “I’ll probably miss it”. “I’ve gone through a lot in this trailer, and it’s been a little sanctuary for me”. One thing he makes clear is that he’s grateful for what he’s getting. “It seems life has given me a lot”.

Stacey certainly works hard. It’s taken several days to catch up with him. This week he’s put in 55 hours on his job at Coopers in nearby Princeton, and tomorrow will be a 14 hour day. He’ll be getting some holidays soon though. Will he be having a house warming party? He laughs: “I’ll probably need to have three, because I know so many people.” This is obviously a reflection of something he said earlier:
“You get out of life what you put into it.”

Photo Bob Sterne