Happy and sad
 

Ok I have been waiting for this moment. Yes to finally move into our home in Buttonwood . Reality has set in big time. The kids at school were saying good bye to me and of course I started crying. I have loved my job working in the education field. Little do they know how much they have given me all these years. And I am suddendly thinking I am leaving my grandson. I kept telling myself all would be good that he can come see me. :girlneener:

Someone please tell me this sadness I am feeling will pass. I am excitied to start a fun life but I sure am feeling sad.

This feeling will pass. Feel better? Seriously, it will pass and you'll be amazed at how full your life can be after retirement. Welcome to the Bubble!

Oceangirl, You will always feel for your grandson. I can't imagine that will ever go away. We miss our 3 year old grandson so terribly. We babysat him every day up to the day before we moved and Skype him as much as possible. Now we look forward to his visit in November when we get to have him for ten days.

You will be so busy when you arrive here that it will help you keep your mind off of being "homesick". We arrived here at the beginning of May and we haven't stopped since we got here. We are closing on our house in St. James next week and we can't wait.

Maybe after the dust settles we can meet at the pool :)

Gisele

Oceangirl: You have voiced the exact same emotions I am going through now. We are leaving the lifestyle we have known for the last 30++ yr. and I sometimes become almost overwhelmed when I begin organized for our move to The Villages in 1 short month.
However, I keep rememebering how impressed we were when we visited TV 3 yr. ago and all the wonderful clubs that I will join. Good to know that others have felt the same and lived through it.

It changes if not passes
 

I was very homesick for the first 6 months or so. I still miss the kids but realize they will be busy with sports and start to not pay as much attention to us. I did miss the birth of my last granchild in May but it was in Minnesota anyway.
I desperately missed my friends and co workers. But I am getting new ones so that helps to ease the loss.
The good news is I now think of TV as home and rarely wonder why I moves here. We do love it here.

Oceangirl,
You will treasure every visit, every call, every skype between you and your grandson. It will not be long at all after you get here that you will remember why you came. You will make wonderful friends here and find your senior years in TV as rich and fulfilling as any phase of your life. You'll see.

Love,
Pturner

Congratulations!! The agony is in making the decision and the hardest part is probably over.
After both of us spent 35 years in education, my wife and I realized we loved (almost) every minute, and the goodbyes were very hard. But we are keeping our hands in and reliving the joys, without the non-stop hard work. Try volunteering.
We spend more "quality" time with the grandkids now. We have some time to visit and host regularly and each occasion is magical.
Welcome to TV. You are NOT 'out to pasture'. You picked a place which encourages positive spirit and wonderful new beginnings.

Oceangirl, I don't know how old your grandson is, but TV does have a summer camp for grandchildren of residents. It sounds like fun. Maybe not this summer as you will probably be busy getting settled, but next summer? I know several people keep in touch with family via Skype. It's not the same as being in person, but technology sure has evolved the last 10 years. And maybe at some point you may want to volunteer at TV's Charter School. I will keep a good thought for you -- transitions can be hard, even when it is a transition you have been planning for and looking forward to. :wave:

Oceangirl,

A year or so ago, someone started a thread about what Villagers missed most from their prior homes. There were many comments about grandchildren, fav restaurants, the ocean, lifetime friends, etc.

When the actual time to move here comes, I think we all grieve a little for the things that will never be so nearby again. But, then we get here, and we remember why we moved!

Quality people
 

You are coming to the right place (The Villages) at this transitional time in your life. While we sense and empathize with your sadness, yours is one of many testimonials to the quality of people who comprise TV......dedicated, caring, positive minded, hardworking, responsible, family-oriented and more.

We are constantly amazed at the quantity of decent, hardworking, moral good citizens that constitute TV. It is always interesting to meet new people here and to hear their stories so different from our own.

New freedom is a good way to look at your present changes.....It truly is liberating to live here.....not stuck inside the house for months because of the cold, ice, etc....low crime.....always countless choices of things to do outside here.....always new people to meet and get to know....

Welcome to TV! You'll be fine.

free·dom noun \ˈfrē-dəm\
Definition of FREEDOM

1: the quality or state of being free: as
a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence
c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous <freedom from care>
d : ease, facility <spoke the language with freedom>
e : the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken <answered with freedom>
f : improper familiarity
g : boldness of conception or execution
h : unrestricted use <gave him the freedom of their home>
2
a : a political right
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freedom

Thank you for your honest loving post. I have an 18 month old grandson and a baby girl in the oven. My heart tugs about our move to TV too, but in my heart I want to live in TV. I will grieve my family and friends but I'm open to the many opportunities that I will experience in my future. Reading this forum gives me so much hope and council or a roadmap to my journey.

Wish you the best on your journey. Hope to see you in TV's soon.

There are so many great posts here to answer the original! Makes me glad to be livng here.:beer3:

Only thing I can add is God made Jet Blue or your favorite airline for a purpose!

I am so glad I read this thread. I am in the same boat..packing up to leave our mountain. Although I will miss the house, the land and the animals I see every morning at our feeding stations I have very mixed feelings about the isolation here. It is quiet, our home is hidden way down a road and no one can find us unless we give very clear directions. I miss being around people, but I also like the quiet and the open land and sky. However, at this point in my life, I real such a tug to be around other people and to have more things to do. Although many of my favorite things to do are pretty self contained, I see there are clubs for almost all of them. So I can do my thing, but with other people. That is such a plus. The closer our moving date gets (July 7th) the more torn I feel. But as pturner said to me (wise woman that she is), remember the beauty here and friends you will make. Don't let things own you, you own them. (I was having a terrible time getting rid of things that meant alot to me at one time, like things my deceased mom and aunts gave me.) So, now I am trying to focus on what I am going TO and not what I am leaving behind. I think of the green trees, the beautiful flowers and the lakes and it calms me. Change is hard. On the list of stressors, moving is number 2. (#1 is losing your mate.) So, I also think that my reactions are perfectly normal, human and expected. I think of getting into the car with hubby and the 4 legged kids and driving down our long country road and I think I will have some tears, but once we hit the highway, I will be fine.

The feeling of sadness will be transitional. Before we moved to The Villages, our son and his family alway lived thousands of miles away. We moved and suddenly, we lived about 2 hours from them. It's been wonderful for the past 5 years....and now, they are moving. Having my son, my daughter in law and my two grandchildren nearby has been so much fun. We'd visit them, they'd visit us, it was GREAT. Now, they're heading back to Chicago. Thank goodness for FACETIME and Skype....and e-mail and telephones. I'm going to miss them terribly, but now that we're retired, it's not such a difficult thing to hop on a plane or take a drive. We're used to that...after flying and driving from one coast to another to visit, a trip to Chicago is a piece of cake. You'll be saying the same thing very soon.

Welcome home!

Ladydoc,

I was moved by your post. Good luck to you and your husband as you pack and travel safely to TV!