Oh my gosh, gulp, gulp, I have to leave my home of 25 years.

[conn8757]

I know we will enjoy the Villages. We have been driving up there for 3 years, but just thinking of leaving our home of the past 25 years makes me unable to speak about it. Then I found out from one of my daughter-in-laws, one of my sons feels the same way. He can't stand the thought of us selling this house he grew up in. I will get over this, right? If we had moved around more, this would have been easier I think. Well, the die is cast and we close next week on both houses.

[JoC]

You'll be fine. I lived in my previous house for 47 years and a couple of my kids felt the same way as yours do. I must say it was a little strange moving from a 120 year old house up north to a brand spanking new one in the south. It didn't take long to get used to it though. Good luck - I think you'll love it here and so will your kids when they come to visit. They'll be happy for you. Welcome!

[graciegirl]

Jo C. Very good advice and happy to hear that your experience was good too.

We are preparing what we thought of as our "last house" for sale. It is 20 years old but in twenty years light fixtures need updating and wallpaper is out of vogue. (I hear it's coming back, but new brilliant huge florals...not for me)

We have had and are still having wonderful times in this house and probably won't list it for a year..hoping for a little recovery in the market. Our daughter lives closeby and I know she has mixed feelings but hasn't voiced the....."don't move" ones. She is 46, maybe she will retire to TV too. She loves it there.

The house is very hard to maintain. It is such a breeze to take care of our Camellia. Life changes and we change and steps are not as easy as they once were.

Conn, I am sending this hug to you. Please save it and give it back to me. I will be needing it. Change is hard, even if it is change for the better.:wave:

[nONIE]

conn8757,

Oh how I can relate to those gulps! We are going thru the same thing at present. Its not so much the house Ill miss as the daily interaction with the grandkids and kids.

Ironically, I was one of the first to tell you, " Dont worry about the kids, they have their own lives, just think of all the fun you will have in TV blah, blah, blah,"! Now that we are selling and preparing for a move to TV I am feeling entirely different.

I understand your feelings completely and am going thru very similiar feelings.
I think once we are in TV and having the time of our lives we will realize we made the right move, but until then, there will be some heavy duty guilt and sadness to cope with.

[Indy-Guy]

When my wife and I got married her son felt the same way. She sold him the home. After 6 years he sold the home. Guess he didn't feel that way for ever.

[rshoffer]

I thought my 2 adult sons were going to disown me when I told them we were pulling up stakes and moving to TV. When the first one visited us over Christmas he said... "you guys better not ever think of leaving this place".... in fact, they went over to Parkwood and looked at some models. Nevertheless, it is a challenging transition tht can be quite emotional.

[rshoffer]

conn8757,

Oh how I can relate to those gulps! We are going thru the same thing at present. Its not so much the house Ill miss as the daily interaction with the grandkids and kids.

Ironically, I was one of the first to tell you, " Dont worry about the kids, they have their own lives, just think of all the fun you will have in TV blah, blah, blah,"! Now that we are selling and preparing for a move to TV I am feeling entirely different.

I understand your feelings completely and am going thru very similiar feelings.
I think once we are in TV and having the time of our lives we will realize we made the right move, but until then, there will be some heavy duty guilt and sadness to cope with. We just learned one of our neighbors down the street is selling their home here in TV and moving back home. I asked why... "can't stand being away from the grandchildren." It is very hard for some to adjust to.

[Barefoot]

I've met a few couples who've left TV permanently to be back with friends and family. It doesn't seem to happen often, but perhaps as people age, they feel more comfortable back with family. I've also met some people who found TV too "claustrophic" and moved back to acreages.

We are snowbirds who spend six months in TV and six months back "home" with friends and family. Fireboy loves our lake cottage in Canada. Sounds like a perfect compromise. I'd trade it in a minute for twelve months in TV!

Conn, good luck with your move. I'm betting you'll love it in TV and so will your kids.

[rsetterlund]

Back a few years ago my wife and I were thinking about selling the house we have lived in for 40 years and moving down the street from our son. Then he sold the house an moved to the other side of their town. Now we will be selling and moving to TV. The son and grandkids have their lives and are always busy, not much time for us. My wife and I feel that this last phase of our lives have to be for us. We have worked all our lives and it is now time to play. Living in the NorthEast is hard if you do not like cold weather. We know there will be some sorrows, but we feel the benefits will out way the sorrows. But everyone is different. Good luck with the move. As my Mom told me years ago when I went away to college and was home sick, "get out with people and have fun".

[advp007]

We just learned one of our neighbors down the street is selling their home here in TV and moving back home. I asked why... "can't stand being away from the grandchildren." It is very hard for some to adjust to.

The only problem with this is when your kids find jobs elsewhere or move for some other reason. You have then turned your life upside down for nothing.

[nONIE]

Very true, and I doubt that the kids feel the remorse that we do if they move away from us! Ah, the joys of parenthood!;)

[rshoffer]

Very true, and I doubt that the kids feel the remorse that we do if they move away from us! Ah, the joys of parenthood!;)and when grandkids are old enough to "fall in love" grandma and grandpa fall way down the list of important people to spend time with this weekend.

[conn8757]

I know we will love TV, it is just the walks down memory lane I keep taking- my twins were 3 when we moved into this house (they are now 29). I am remembering crayola drawlings on the wall, a fist mark of a teenager who got grounded (that might still be there), proms, graduations, weddings and grandchildren - all firsts for this house. Okay, now I am crying -think I will go jump in the pool.

[rshoffer]

I know we will love TV, it is just the walks down memory lane I keep taking- my twins were 3 when we moved into this house (they are now 29). I am remembering crayola drawlings on the wall, a fist mark of a teenager who got grounded (that might still be there), proms, graduations, weddings and grandchildren - all firsts for this house. Okay, now I am crying -think I will go jump in the pool.A new chapter with a ton of new memories is about to be added to your lifebook... I was terribly ambivalent about moving and I recall the day we pulled out my wife and I both went through a few kleenex... been here a year and love it. I bet you will too.

[katezbox]

Conn,

One thing we did as we packed up was to buy some photo storage boxes. We had pix in albums, pix in frames, pix in the package from the drugstore, etc.

We lived in SC for a few months while we built in TV. During that time we sorted the photos - it was like saying goodbye to a part of our life, and very therapeutic.

k

[JeanneBeannie]

I sure am glad I came across this post, altho I have a lump in my throat already just reading them and thinking about it. Conn I do sympathize and others that had to leave wonderful memories behind, but thats what is great about memories....they will be in your heart forever.
I have no doubt in my mind that I want to live in TV, but leaving my son behind is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. Uhoh here comes the water works hehe...I cant even see what I am typing lol. Its been just the two of us since he was four so as you can imagine we are very close. I am very fortunate that he is very supportive of my move to TV and wants me to be happy. I know change will be good for him too. And I pray alot that someday (hopefully sooner than later lol), he will want to move closer to TV....maybe he will miss my cooking lol lol :laugh:. Yep...change is hard, but it is also good. Hopefully he will come for lots of visits and fall in love with the area :bowdown:. Okie sorry for the doom and gloom, I am sure it will pass quickly cause I will be having so much fun with all you great folks! :pepper2:

[nONIE]

Just a tad more doom & gloom. When you think about how many "good" years we have left, dont we deserve to enjoy them to the fullest? We raised our kids and now its our time.(as I write this Im trying to convince myself of all of this)
Seriously, for some, TV may not be the best move. If our total joy and happiness comes from being with our children and grandchildren then mabe this is not the right move for us. It is a very difficult decision. But I have talked with others who were devastated by leaving the kids, but after a few weeks, months, it all seemed good and the right thing to do.

Our grandparents had to leave their familys in Europe ,not knowing if or when they would ever see each other again, what an awful thing that must have been. We must remember that in this day and age , we have all kinds of ways to travel and communicate with our familys. Nuff said.

[conn8757]

Okay - I'm here full time and no longer feel bad - too busy - We have been in our house less than 24 hours and the furniture is arranged (had to flip some rooms around due to a couch not fitting in a room) but life is so-o-o good. New neighbor has invited us for lunch today - woo hoo!