There are lots of misconceptions about bankruptcy and one of them is that it is about avoiding debts. Perhaps that was once true, or even still true for some people, but today, bankruptcy is often quite different, many people got caught in the various storms of 2008 and their assumptions about money and life were upended.

We met a lot of people like us along the way, we were all surprised to find each other there.

For Maria and I, bankruptcy was not about avoiding our debts, rather it was about figuring out how to pay them. We are paying them off one by one, moving to regain our footing, control of our lives and our money, learning how to live in new ways in a new world. Everything financial in my life changed after the divorce, the recession, the publishing revolution.

I have to smile when some people write me and think of bankruptcy in a very different way than it was for me. We are very proud of the debts we have repaid, we will keep at it until we are done. The bank got some money from the sale of the first Bedlam Farm, we did not. We do not owe them a penny apart from the mortgage.

I have no complaints. I am responsible for my life and I have never been happier or more challenged and fulfilled.

Our farmhouse is a powerful symbol of our challenges, for almost all of last year it seemed we would lose it, it even got so far that friends offered us a house on their farm if we needed a place to live, we thought we just might.

We couldn’t have afforded to paint the farmhouse last year, and we didn’t wish to, we didn’t expand the gardens, repair the barn, add some new fencing. This year we can do some of these things, and it  feels good to tending to our farmhouse again. The paint job was finished today, we will keep the shutters, but repair them and get the right sizes for the windows.

Old farmhouses need some care.

That will be it for us this year. Ed Watkins gave us a very good price. The only other thing we would love to do this year is heat the upstairs bedroom, which is often frigid in the cold weather, especially if there is some wind. We have an electrician and an estimate.

That would cost between $500 and $700. We’ll see.

The farmhouse, built in the early 1800’s, looks great. We are committed to it. We have – ourselves – stripped wallpaper, put tile in the kitchen and bathroom, painted the dining room, bathroom, living room. We are thinking about painting the kitchen. Maria loves our house and couldn’t bear the thought of moving, but she was afraid to work on it in case we had to leave it. So we appreciate our house and we cherish living there.

Maria has been amazing, she has worked hard using her artistic skills and sense and muscle to re-shape the interior and much of the exterior and gardens.

It is the perfect place for us, and we love being near Cambridge. We are getting back on our feet financially, this is a process that will take years. I feel sad for the people who write and jeer that we are deadbeats running from our obligations. They just don’t know whereof they speak.

We are both happy to have the house painted before the June Open House. Another good thing to share.

We all face challenges in our life, grace is in how we respond to them, we are proud of us and excited about the future. Lots of hard work to do, lots of good and wonderful days to live.

Our farmhouse is bright and dignified and proud, as a well-built old farmhouse is supposed to be. A shiny new coat of paint makes a huge difference. This weekend, I will begin scraping the green shingles, also in need of tending. We are on the path.