Preparing for Our Last Move

As I continue to battle bronchitis and asthma-related symptoms, Douglas and I have determined that we must leave this beloved house that we have lived in for just over three years. We thought it was our last big move, but it has become apparent that something in the house or the surrounding area impacts my health. When we travel, I am well and healthy the whole trip (which may be why I am always ready to get on a plane!).

But, when we return home, I must deal with issues with sinuses, bronchitis, asthma, and just feeling sick that require many doctor visits and lot of medical expense. It is a difficult decision to make, for we live in such a safe and wonderful neighborhood. We have forgotten to close our back door and went to Atlanta for a week or so, and returned with nothing missing!

When we have traveled over the last three years, sometimes as long as six weeks, our neighbors looked out for our home, taking in parcels and even cutting our grass, so that our house did not have a dismal and dingy look to it. They did not allow our garden to die from neglect, watering it, which allowed us to return to wonderfully sweet tomatoes on the vine and all manner of good fresh vegetables. We made sure to bring them souvenirs as thank you gifts.

But, my health is our priority, and I am tired of the doctor visits and constantly taking medications like Flonase month after month, with no end in sight. So, we are placing our home for sale and moving. We would love to move to Europe, but we have chosen to repress those desires in favor of being closer to the grandchildren, especially as my eighth great-grandchild is due in May and children on both sides have begged us to move closer to them. We really do look forward to seeing grandchildren more often, hopefully.

So, we are preparing to renovate the place, repairing things that might make the house harder to sell, although houses around us tend to nearly glide off of the market within weeks, so selling the house has not been the biggest issue. The major issue has been agreeing on where to go next, especially as it will be, hopefully, our last move. I am willing to travel only once more in a U-Haul truck packed with all our worldly goods and towing one of the cars behind us.

On Sunday, as we drove to church, we were both quiet. I had prayed to God to lead us in our deliberations and to guide us in our decision-making, so that we were acting according to His will, especially finding a place where we can continue to be used by God. It has been a prayer for both of us when we say grace and our nightly and morning prayers, but we still, like the old television show with Eddy Albert and Eva Gabor, Green Acres, seemed to want to go to different places.

Then, in the midst of the drive, I told Douglas what I thought God was saying to me, and to my great surprise, he had the same feelings, and we are so thankful to be on one accord. So, the winner is Atlanta! All but one of my four living children still reside there, as well as eleven of my grandchildren and all seven of my great-grandchildren. Douglas has two children there and his three grandchildren. Needless to say, there is joy and a lot of  “Thank you, Jesus” in our children’s homes in Atlanta!

Our children live on opposite sides of Atlanta, with mine mostly on the south side and Douglas’s more on the north side, so we will find a new home somewhere in the middle, but away from all the traffic and with access to public transportation. We want to enjoy all the cultural aspects of Atlanta, especially the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the High Museum of Art, and, of course, an international airport, so we can travel for two or three months of each year, as money allows.

We had hoped that this house would be the last one we purchased, particularly as we are in our sixties, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you just have to do what you have to do to make things right. Having to start taking medication for asthma means it is time to make a change!

So, we will have a garage sale and try to rid ourselves of a lot of things that we both have accumulated over time, mainly because we plan to look at condos or townhouses, so that we do not have the yard maintenance of a house. The man with the green thumbs now just wants to use them to throw a frisbee.

We want to simplify our lives, leaving us time to travel and to enjoy our families. California was wonderful, and we would have remained there for the rest of our lives, but we were priced out of the housing market. We found much more affordable housing here in Tennessee, so, hopefully, we can find something safe and affordable in Atlanta. Prayer has not failed us yet, and I do not expect it ever will, as we continue to trust in God to have already chosen a place for us.

Fandango prompt is Repress. Ragtag prompt is Parcel. Word of the Day Challenge is Dingy. Scott’s Daily Prompt is Die. Daily Addictions prompt is Glide. One Daily Prompt is Renovate.