It has been over two months now since we moved into our new apartment home. We love it but it sure is a big adjustment to go from our lovely four bedroom home of thirty five years to a two bedroom apartment. We have always run a pretty organized household so I thought moving would be no big deal. I was so wrong!!!
View from our balcony
An example of the decisions to be made: our previous home with its many rooms had lots of wall space and we, over the thirty five years we lived there, covered the walls with meaningful photos and memorabilia. As our son-in-law Paul said we had to go from several hundred wall hangings( a slight exaggeration) to maybe twenty five. It has been a tough downsize and an emotional reliving of all the memories that the wall hangings represented.
It has been a bit hard for me to refer to our new home as our home. The word” home” conjurs up memories and in a new abode there are no memories to call upon. Initially I was feeling a bit like we were staying in a vacation residence that has lots of fun activities with its well equipped exercise room, and swimming pool. Gradually we are settling into our new home. I was very pleased when recently I was out for coffee with a dear friend when before I knew it an hour had passed. I told my friend that I had to head home, that a repairman was coming for a mal functioning wall light. I thought it was such a good sign that the word ” home” seemed to flow from me with such ease. We were truly starting to settle in to our new abode.
When we first moved to our apartment our thought was that we would stay here till our house sold and then we would purchase a condo in Falls Church putting us close to our two children and their families who lived in Falls Church. The sale happened so quickly we had no thought of moving on. The nice neighbors with their mix of age and ethnicity is very appealing as are the exercise facilities and the warm and cozy gathering areas. The fact that it is getting so easy to call our new apartment home is another sign of the rightness of this move.
An unexpected treat is having a good grocery store just an elevator ride away. This is an amenity that I never gave any thought to but we sure are enjoying the convenience.
This past Sunday we attended church at Our Lady Queen of Peace in south Arlington – about a 25 minute drive away. We have been attending different churches trying to find our new church home. This is a tough job since the church we came from, St.John Neumann, was so warm and welcoming – our standards are high. We have over the years been to services at Our Lady Queen of Peace. We went there with various friends. Jack Donohue’s funeral was there. It has the warmth and the diversity that are so important to Jerry and me but from our home on Tolman Road it was a tad far and anyway we were very happy at St John Neumann. Now the distance is less and we are seriously thinking of making it our parish home.
Last Saturday, Fr Don, from St John Neumann, came for dinner. A special treat was that he asked if he could bless our new home. There was no nicer gift that he could have given us.
Tomorrow we head to Diamond Beach , New Jersey for our family beach week. There will be at least twenty four in attendance. We are truly blessed.
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