Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
My wife has a t-shirt with the logo "Its weird being the same age as old people".
To us, that says it all. Back home in Minnesota, living less than an hour from George Floyd "Ground Zero", the living situation was far less than ideal. Feeling that you had to carry a pistol every time you went anywhere near the MSP metro was a real pain in the bleep, but that is where the best restaurants and shopping (outer ring suburbs, anyway) were. The problem was that the ground zero mentality and environment spreads; even our sleepy little town was not immune.
Other than that the physical challenges were enormous and were getting more so as the months and years went by. Living in a four-bedroom rambler with a huge yard and deck meant maintenance and upkeep that I was progressively less able to do, not to mention having to shovel snow for six months out of the year and driving in conditions that most southerners cannot even imagine let alone cope with. High taxes on income, property and just about every other thing you can imagine. Law enforcement that was becoming pretty sketchy, even in our sleepy little town. All in all, being a senior citizen in that environment was becoming a challenge that was getting progressively harder to meet. It is HARD being old in Minnesota.
But here? I love those "severe weather warnings" when the mercury is supposed to plunge to (gasp!) THIRTY DEGREES ABOVE ZERO. Golf and tennis year round. Anything you could possibly need or want within a 15-minute golf cart ride. Environments tailored to the needs of Seniors. Flowers blooming year round. Excellent law enforcement for the most part. A tan that I don't have to buy. Folks who offer you a ride when you're walking in the summer. NOT having to constantly look back over your shoulder. Clubs for any interest you can possibly imagine. Not having to wake up at 2:00 AM to a strange sound coming from the vicinity of the garage. Lots of people of our age group. Arthritis pain nearly nonexistent for the most part. And so on.
Sure, family is back there, but it is a short airplane ride in either direction and we see a lot of them. Other than that? After three years here I cannot envision myself back in that situation. It's not whether or not you can go back. For us, we don't want to.
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I grew up 5 blocks from the George Floyd incident in a house my grandfather built. We then moved to the "new" suburb of Richfield. My parents bought a house for $13,500 that recently sold for $350,000. I visit my best friend from jr. high once a year. Her daughter teaches Spanish at Richfield High to students who struggle with English. She spends most of her time breaking up fights among the blacks, hispanics and hmong students. She has 4 caucasian students. No longer are there carefree days and firefly lit evenings for children to enjoy without fear. I go back once a year and love the lakes, fishing, and friends. But the world is different now, and as they say, "There is no there, there."