Quote:
Originally Posted by MaybeKid
Hi folks.
The title of my post was my question to my parents when they told me they were moving to a place called The Villages (TV) in a town called Lady Lake (This was over 10 years ago.) in the state of Florida. My mother and father were the models of stability. For them to say they were selling off everything and leaving all of us children and grandchildren behind was shocking to say the least.
My wife, children, and I finally came down to visit after about 6 months. Our first impression was, "What kind of fantasy land is this? Everybody is too friendly. Mom and Dad are too happy. Something can't be right here."
But it is all right. That's what we realized after a couple of more trips. Sure, every place has it quirks and problems, but as far as I'm concerned I could not have been happier for my mom and dad once I figured out what this place is all about.
Unfortunately, dad died within a year of them moving to TV. Our family all thought mom would move back home. "Why would I do that? This is my home now. My friends live here. I'm not going anywhere.", is what mom told us when asked (because we assumed she would) when she was coming "home".
The main thing I'm attempting to convey is that as a child of a full-timer in TV, it is comforting to know that my mother is happy. After all, it is about her, not us. I know she stays busy as it seems I'm usually tracking her down on her cell phone if I want to talk to her. The home phone? Ha! Don't bother. She's probably not there unless it's close to bedtime.
So if you're a person who ends up asking the same questions I asked my parents, don't despair. The odds are they will love it at The Villages. And... you'll have a great reason to go to Florida! Hug them and wish them the best as they set out on their new phase in life.
MaybeKid
(And here I was, searching for something totally unrelated to TV and ended up here anyway. Providence?) |
I'm sorry for the loss of your father MaybeKid. I'm happy to hear your mother seems to be getting along fine here in paradise though. Since we've been fulltime here, I've met so many wonderful people and heard similar stories. The support system from neighbors and friends is tremendous in TV. I think it is because we all have that initial move here in common.
We met a young man in his early-30s who moved down when his stepfather died and left his mother all alone. He said she insisted she was fine, but he knew how devastated she was at his death. He said he came down because he couldn't imagine her grieving and sitting alone in her home in Florida.
He laughed as he told us how he was sitting in her home by himself after work, exhausted, while his mom was out and about with her friends dancing, playing cards, BINGO, movies, swimming, taking her "college" classes and on and on.
He has since moved back to New York in pursuit of a woman he'd left behind. Before he left paradise he said he wasn't worried about her and knew she was happy and going to be okay.