Has It Really Been That Long?

I was shocked today when I visited my blog site and realized it had been almost a year since I blogged.

Well, time certainly does fly, whether you are having fun or not. For me these last ten months or so have been a very mixed bag. There has been upheaval, resettling, readjusting, meeting new people, enjoying a different kind of living, some health challenges, and trying to grow old (older) somewhat gracefully.

Living room of my new home

In December 2017, just before Christmas, I moved into an apartment complex for seniors. It is not an assisted living residence, but there is an age requirement. My sister Grace already lived here, as did her daughter, Tina. I do enjoy living close to them. My small one-bedroom apartment is comfortable. It required a huge amount of downsizing (and I think I should have done even a little more of that), but I find there's not much I miss of the things I eliminated. It is good to simplify at this age. Less housework and less stuff to take care of is a good thing!

When I first moved here my sister was still driving, which was very convenient for both of us in getting to church, the grocery store, etc. I had given up driving due to vision and health concerns some years before. At the age of 80 Grace decided it was time for her to also give up driving, and she sold her car to her grandson, who was visiting on leave from the Marines. With her car gone, we decided that in order to have less to carry home from the grocery store when we had the opportunity to shop, we would start lunching at the Senior Center. The Senior Center is just across a driveway from our apartment building and, thus, is easy to get to even in bad weather. They do a good job with the meals, we meet some new people and get a little socializing in the middle of each day.

A few days ago several local politicians were working the lunchroom in preparation for the upcoming elections. The next day Grace called me when her newspaper came. There we were in a photo taken at the event. We had not even noticed the photographer! The photo quality, as you can see, is not terrific because it is scanned from the newspaper.

I am at the head of the table and Grace is next to me.