[QUOTE=Quixote;683169]Several years ago my friend Tillie turned 100, and a big party was held for her. A young guest commented to me that Tillie typified the picture in her mind of a "sweet little old lady." Tillie always smiled, was always gentle and loving, never complained, was white-haired and pink-skinned, and was a joy to be with.
I explained to this young woman that that isn't how it works, that Tillie didn't suddenly achieve "sweet little old lady" status. Tillie was like that when she was 20, when she was 40, when she turned 60, when she became 80, and now that she's 100. I was with her once at the nursing home (she could no longer walk) during lunch and asked her how the food was. She smiled sweetly and asked me if I'd like to eat it.... It didn't look great (understatement), and she ate it day in and day out, never complaining!
__________________________________________________ ________
Many of the elders in our past were exactly like Tillie.....and all were a joy to be with. She lived a long life because she apparently was not hateful and nit picky over every little thing. Nothing in this world is perfect.
I've always been calm, accepting of people's differences and various opinions as no one is perfect. No place is perfect and life is not perfect.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in la la land. That's my opinion.
There are places that are enjoyable at different stages of life, for sure.
I might also add that asking about "climate" is not being negative in that it can indeed affect folks........if it makes them uncomfortable, so in "weighing whether to relocate to certain parts of our great country" vs. staying put in the familiar terrain..........is just being smart and doing the research. Act in haste, repent at leisure.
We've been in Vermont for 43 years, a state that does NOT have perfect weather.........not one Vermonter would be insistant that it has perfect weather............that it never snows, never has ice storms and blizzards, never rains for days on end with extreme mugginess and humidity (again today).......never has pot holes and frost heaves......but it is a beautiful state and was a great place to raise a family. Things are changing, even up here.......but in the end, we all make our own educated decisions based on our own research and HOW WE FEEL at the moment..........the original Vermonters were the salt of the earth and a pleasure to know, once you got past the "Ayup" and silent treatment...........the autumns were glorious.......the springtime is now practically non existant as we've seen climate change.........and more rain and flooding.............that is not being negative. It is stating a fact. It is not bashing the state of Vermont.
We will miss our beautiful state when we relocate to The Villages.
We love Vermont but Florida is in our future for a million and one reasons.
It still is HOT and it still is HUMID. We know that for a fact, having lived in Florida........and having vacationed in Florida during our entire 48 years of marriage.
Having a different viewpoint or asking a question does not make a "hater".
I also respect those who are not afraid to state their true opinions and not pretend to be still in high school.......we are all far past that age, for sure.
No one needs to be in the "popular" crowd if they have enough self esteem of their own.
New England has always been known for free thinkers and freedom of speech has always been valued........ditto for other parts of our nation.
Posters should not become afraid of the few bullies out there in life.....
There is one faction that seems to think they are still in high school.
Supposedly, we are all mature senior citizens??
Also, common sense would show that if The Villages was not hot and humid during the summer months, the snowbirds would NOT return north in May, only to return in the autumn or after the holidays.......
We appreciate those who have posted super getaways in the Carolina mountains for the summer "escape" from oppressive humidity and intense sunshine.......that's when the cooler forests would be appealing, for sure.
"Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard. . . But freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson WV SBE v Barnette
|