The "The Start Of Moving On! Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with my wife about the retirement community that we had visited a few weeks ago.  We have been thinking of leaving our dream home and moving into a retirement community.  We both find it is getting harder to take care of our property and home as we age.  I am three quarters of a century old and Carol is...well I'm quite a few years older!  I find the maintenance of the property is getting harder considering we have just about an acre of land which needs mowing weekly in the summer and leaves raked several times from much of that property in the fall.  In the winter the driveway needs to be plowed of snow several times each winter.  And, that's just the grounds.  Keeping up with the exterior as well as interior of the home is another problem that needs addressed each year, year-round.  My body has begun to find that it can't handle the physical work like it used to.  So..what can be done.  Move!  We began to look at retirement communities that provide all the exterior maintenance needed as well as will take care of the interior of your home when needed, at a fair price.  We have visited a few different places and have decided upon one place that is close to all our doctors offices as well as two of our children whom still live in Lancaster County.  It is tough making decisions when it means we have to leave the house and property that we have loved for years and years.  Some days we talk about it and are positive we can stay put at our home and take care of the place for a few more years...while the next day we are positive that it is too much work and I just can't do all of it with the bad back that I have.  Yeah...we could hire someone to do the work, but that can get as pricey as moving to a retirement home where they take care of all the maintenance for you.  So, after a few years of talking about it and another year actually going around and looking at retirement communities, we have decided upon a retirement home that we both enjoy.  The community is called Woodcrest Villa and is located near most of our doctors as well as less than a mile from two of our children.  All three of our children made a visit to the place with us and they too thought the place was fantastic.  We looked at both villas as well as apartments and decided upon a villa which would give us a garage that is not part of the apartment.  Prices at every place we visited were about the same so that din't factor into our choice.  We have a few friends whom already Iive at Woodcrest Villa and  have nothing but good things to say about it.  We recently made a visit and have decided on the model we want and will place a deposit on the villa in the near future.  No more raking, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, etc.  Instead we can swim in the indoor pool, play bocce ball and pool and take bus day trips to local places.  Sure beats all the work that makes my back feel bad.   Sometime soon I will post photos and a story showing you what a retirement village in Lancaster County looks like and how well we are enjoying it.  My hope is that my story will be reporting nothing but positive remarks.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.