Part I -- A Place to Live
Gordon was 19 years old and had taken a year off after high school to work and travel. He was overjoyed be accepted into TWU, a Christian based college outside of Vancouver but the excitement of getting out from under his overbearing mother and living on campus had hit a snag that jeopardized everything. As part of the process to live on campus TWU required a complete medical history form completed by Gordon's family physician. Without Gordon's knowledge his doctor had indicated in the questionnaire that Gordon had a history of bedwetting. Gordon was puzzled when he was notified that he was ineligible to live on campus due to his medical history. Puzzled about this he contacted the Student Housing Department, and he was mortified to be told that his physician had indicated that he was a bedwetter.
He tried to explain that the doctor was mistaken, and the problem had resolved years ago. This was in fact a lie because he still wet occasionally but Gordon was desperate because there were no other universities that accepted his applications due to less than stellar marks in high school. The Student Housing Coordinator would not accept a revised report from Gordon's physician and the news only got worse because the coordinator informed him that almost all of the off campus housing options in this small town were registered with TWU and the school shared all the data they had on students and applicants for housing.
Gordon was in tears at this point and pleaded with Coordinator for other possible options. She recommended he try looking for a nearby private rental but was realistic that the chances were slim because in this small highly religious area almost all homeowners who had rooms for rent were registered with TWU.
For the entire month of June Gordon placed ads and responded to Craigslist or Kijijiji listings close to the school but they were all a dead end due to cost or they did not accept students. In July he made one last attempt to contact the TWU Housing Coordinator and plead his case. She would not alter his file, but she did offer a glimmer of hope.
She told him that they had one home on file that for the past decade or so the landlord had accepted a couple of students who had bedwetting issues. The coordinator tempered his enthusiasm because the landlord had not contacted TWU for a few years looking a new student, but she would email Mrs. Schimmel to enquire and give her Gordon's contact information.
With each passing day and no email from the prospective landlord Gordon became more and more desperate and by the third week of August he was resigned to the fact that he probably would be attending Capilano College which was 10 minutes from his home for the first year and living at home with a mother he so desperately wanted to distance himself from. Then one Saturday morning he checked his email and there was an email from a Helga Schimmel titled "TWU Fall Semester Room Available".
He eagerly opened the email, and it went into detail about how the room and board cost which was significantly higher than what it would cost Gordon to live in the school's Student Housing, but Mrs. Schimmel provided home cooked meals, laundry service and since her home was a about 8 km from the campus she would provide drop him off and pick him up at the end of each day. What he found even more appealing was that in exchange for doing chores she would offer a reduced rent depending on the amount of work done the prior month.
The email instructed him to contact her as soon as possible as she had another prospective renter. Gordon waited until 9am before calling and made an appointment for noon for an interview and tour. Gordon was 15 minutes late when he arrived at the cute cottage style home at the edge of the small town of Fort Langley. It was right on the main road leading into the quaint main street of the town. He was amazed at how large and well maintained the garden and property leading to the back was. He could see why she was looking for assistance.
Mrs. Schimmel answered the door and while pleasant she clearly was annoyed by his tardiness,
"I hope you being late is not going to be a habit. It is disrespectful to keep someone waiting. Did you know that?"
