A Year in My Life

Leaving Home, Coming Home...

It's been a long time since I've blogged.  I'm still trying to process all the changes that began in January 2018, with the loss of our 15-year-old dog, Bart...until our cross-country move from Denver to Chicago in October.

If you've ever had a roller-coaster year with major adjustments, then you'll know what I mean when I say I'm in a daze.  Sometimes, I look back on everything my husband and I accomplished over the summer and fall and wonder how we did it.  I left my beloved Colorado home of 29 years kicking and screaming but knowing it was time to go.  Still, I'm having a difficult time letting go of all the wonderful memories we made there.

Berthoud Pass, Colorado

Getting older and health issues forced our decision, one we'd grappled with for a while.  We had no family in Colorado, and most of our friends left Denver to retire elsewhere.  Besides that, I could no longer enjoy the mountains I'd always cherished.  Meniere's disease, a vestibular disorder, stole that from me.  The altitude hurt my affected ear and brought on attacks of dizziness and nausea.

After sorting through the refuse of our lives, we made countless trips to the library, parting with 100s of books, and became well acquainted with Goodwill Phil and 1-800-GOT JUNK.  Next came the daunting tasks of selling the house and then packing, packing, packing.  Some days, I was too dizzy and sick to help.  To be truthful, my husband, Tim, did most of the work.  He was determined to get us "home to family."

With the assistance of my sisters, Nancy and Patti, we bought a manufactured home on a pond in a 55+ community.

We shipped our vehicles and flew into O'Hare.  It was getting carsick on a 1000-mile drive or risking ear pressure with possible vertigo on a two-hour flight.  I opted for the latter.  We've spent the past two months trying to get settled--buying furniture, decorating, and acclimating to Illinois.  I miss the Colorado blue skies and more temperate climate, but we have the love of our families to keep us warm.

Quite a different landscape!

Everything is foreign--from the grocery stores to medical coverage.  I feel like an alien in my hometown, the city where I was born and raised.  Sometimes, I smile, and sometimes I wipe tears from my eyes.  I know it will take time before Tim and I feel like we fit in here again.

Needless to say, my writing has suffered.  I'm hoping that 2019 will be a healthier year for my husband and me and a more creative one.  In case you don't know, he's the artist who designed all my book covers.

First Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing part of last year's journey with me.

Affectionately,

Linda