The "Making The Move Was A Tough Decision!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my lounge chair reminiscing about our old place we called "The Beach House."  It's been almost two months and now one Christmas since we moved to Woodcrest Villa in Lancaster, Pennsylvania which is a hop, skip and jump from "The Beach House."  And, why did we call it "The Beach House"?  Well, she looked like a house at the beach with a wooden deck in the rear and a five-foot piece of driftwood hanging on the front of the house.  My wife and I found the driftwood while scouring the "shores" of the Elk River in nearby Maryland after a storm.  The bark-free piece of wood seemed to be calling us and after rubbing our hands along the large branch, we decided we needed to take it home with us to hang on our new home.  We tied it on the roof of our van and headed home.  Wasn't long before it hung on the street side of our home and gave name to "The Beach House."  Home is never really a physical place as much as it is a kaleidoscope of experiences that range from soaring highs to heartbreaking lows with plenty of ordinary in betweens (many thanks to Salena for that quote).  We lived at "The Beach House" for  27 years after living at our home on Janet Ave. for another 20 plus years.  Our three children were all born while we were living on Janet Ave.  They all left home when we were living at "The Beach House."  Both places carry many memories for both my wife and myself and these memories will never be forgotten.  Pets of all sizes and types, school concerts, church choirs, Little League baseball games, High School graduations, a few marriages and a few grandchildren all took place while living in one of those locations, but "time must go on" as the saying proclaims.   The memories of the past will never be forgotten, but it is time to create new memories in a home that will require less management and work for a couple who are ready to give up house painting, worrying about the lights going out, how many bags of trash we are allowed to put out, when to paint the siding, how to fix the back deck, etc., etc., etc.  I'm sure you have gone through it yourself and know exactly what I'm trying to tell you.  Now, someone will shovel the snow, clean the ice off the driveway, paint the outside of the property, drop the newspaper at the front door, etc., etc., etc.  Yeah, we still have to clean the house and make the meals, but our time is "our time" and we can do things together more often than ever before.  No one or nothing can keep us from enjoying our lives as in the past.  We still celebrated this past Christmas with our family at our new villa and opened presents with all of them as in the past.  And, when the meal was over our daughter, daugher-in-law, sons and son-in-law all pitched in and cleaned the place for us.  We sat and talked with a few other visitors while they took charge of the clean-up.  We were a bit apprehensive about moving from "The Beach House" to Woodcrest Villa, but we are fitting in rather nicely.  We are meeting new people every day and our family and friends seem to be happy for us.  Life is Good!  What more can anyone ask for in this life?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.