"Transitioning Backward into the Future" -Time Out #95

Boom!

The year is 1981, and I am returning to Our Town after an 11-year absence of a permanent address here, but truly a place in my mind's eye I never really left. This is and has always been home.

This time I had sweet wife, Debbie, in tow, capturing her from "America's Finest City"--- San Diego, CA, and our children that were absent from my life when I departed here in 1970.

Boom!

We'd been here 1+ years, bought a nice home, had our 3rd child, and, of course, loved Our Town, as does anyone out there with any common sense, then and today.

Boom!

We upgraded, buying our new dream home, and made the permanent (?) move across town to a newer, larger, more land home, complete with a nice swimming pool for all 4 people, except mom, to enjoy for years. Debbie, by choice, always maintained the pool without swimming in it, except for the annual unexpected push or 2 into it; really not happy when she ended up soaked, and all witnesses laughing.

It was our home through thick and thin, the growing-up years of our kid trio, complete with birthdays, school graduations, holiday celebrations, and even an outdoor wedding around that aforementioned pool.

The children then began scattering over planet earth as happens in life, but they always knew they had a loving, gentle, soft, landing place when they returned home for visits. In fact, they always found comfort in knowing they could sleep on or near their former bed, although we did some remodeling on the old nest-of-rest home over the decades. Each child had made a zillion friends in Our Town, and most times during frequent visits, our grown-up offspring would bring back a familiar face through our always-welcoming home doors to see the parents once again. Of course, we would always tell the visitors, they were our favorite of all our children's friends! Our home always seemed to be the gathering place for the neighborhood kids, school chums, and, occasionally, the friend's parents, too. Our humble domain was a regular bee hive of activity most of the time as our kids aged.

Boom!

The winds of change began to blow less than 2 years ago when we let it be known to our brood, the parents, (i.e., us), were on the prowl for a new home. Simply said, these empty nesters were restless.

To say the child trio was disturbed would be quite an understatement.

They were downright, or should I re-phrase it, MAJOR LEAGUE, upset!

What.....leave our home, our safe place, our magical memories address where we learned to be who we are today after many

years of practice???

Just short of professional counseling, thus far, we have managed to keep our family ship afloat through these troubled waters of home change. But, the story gets better, dear people.

What do 99.99% of seniors do when they relocate today in the good ol' U.S. of A?

Well, smart guessers out there, we have done the exact opposite.

No downsizing for this duo, but we have taken on the life challenge at this stage of the game by upsizing.

Yes, I said UPSIZE.

Guess it must be the thrill of the unknown for us to choose this unusual fork in the road for our golden years.

Besides, we always tell folks, age is just a number on your driver's license.

So, when most of you and the rest of America are singing Happy Birthday to our wonderful country in a few days, and possibly enjoying live fireworks, family time and cookouts, please remember, a few of us just might be moving furniture from Point A to Point B during our summer's heat.

What can be more American than that, Our Town?

With that said, a genuine Happy Birthday, America, from these senior movers!!!