Well, it finally happened!
The first step came in November, something that I found out about while driving back from a mini vacation/trip to upstate New York in the Adirondacks to visit my brother, with a day in Montreal on the side.
The second step came closing day, which happened less than two weeks into January, and which I accompanied my parents to, and brought a bit of stuff.
But the third and biggest step was to actually move. Unfortunately, this crucial step was delayed for several reasons, and so it wound up not happening until late February - fully a month and a half after the closing day.
That is unusually late, as my girlfriend and I moved into the new apartment/house fully just a few days after the closing day, although our circumstances were very different. It was in the same town, and actually within walking distance.
My father can suffer through some severe pain, so any long trip would have to be on a day when he was relatively well. Also, my parents had doctor's appointments that complicated their departure, and they needed me to assist. And my schedule can be quite complicated between two jobs and other responsibilities. As if all of that were not enough, we had to have a period where the weather cooperated.
Well, it finally all came together this past weekend. I had taken a day off (actually a night off, from Monday night into Tuesday morning) to maximize the chances of acceptable weather. I kept checking, and the weather forecast seemed cooperative. So, we finally committed to making this the weekend when it happens. I made reservations to rent an SUV for more space than my car, in order to bring some furniture that they wanted to bring (mostly, it wound up being a table and their bed).
Finally, after my final overnight shift on Saturday night Sunday morning, I took a short nap, than headed to my parent's place, and we did our last bit of packing. It was unusually stressful to get everything out of the old house and into the SUV. But after a much longer time than expected, we finally got as much stuff as it could take, and I headed up - a couple of hours after I had originally wanted to leave. My parents left a bit later, as they still had to get some stuff into their car.
I had wanted to get there with plenty of daylight. As it turned out, it was just under the gun. I got there while there was still just a bit of daylight left, and managed to get the SUV unpacked just before it got really dark, which was nice. Then, I had a bit of downtime before my parents arrived. I had brought my portable DVD player, and fluctuated between reading my book, and watching that. Frankly, it felt nice to relax, although it felt strange being in a clearly empty house while it was dark, and not being able to do much of anything else.
About an hour and a half to two hours later, my parents finally did arrive. They got there, and brought the traumatized cat with them, who was very vocal about her displeasure throughout the ride. She also went right to hiding immediately once she was let out of her portable cage.
But we were all too exhausted to do what I had wanted to do on that first day, which was set up their bed, so that they would at least have a place to sleep that night. We went out to grab a bite to eat, and it wound up being at Burger King, a place that I had not eaten at in many, many years. Not exactly my first choice, but in a small town in upstate New York as it is getting late on a Sunday evening, you cannot be too picky, right?
We then went to the local motel, and my parents got a couple of rooms, so that we could at least get some much needed rest.
The next morning, we got some breakfast. We originally wanted to get that at the local Texas Cafe, but it was closed. Again, you cannot be too picky for a small town in upstate New York on what turned out to be a cold and snowy morning, so we got some breakfast at the local Taco Bell. My father had wanted to do that at Burger King, but we had the misfortune of arriving there at 10:32, and we were told that they had stopped serving breakfast at 10:30am. That level of inflexibility, mixed with the strange notion that people would actually order lunch instead of breakfast at 10:30 a.m., was a bit annoying, so we opted for Taco Bell. There, we found that they do not take the "fast" part of fastfood all that seriously. They apologized and said that they were understaffed, although it seemed that there were actually a lot of people back there. But, whatever.
That was when we hoped to finally try and comfort the cat. Once she had arrived at her new home, the cat was scared and, understandably, hid. That first night, we were all too wiped out to do much of anything, except get reservations at the local motel. When we came back with the breakfast, the cat was hiding. I found her on the top step, next to the closed door. Her ears were folded down, and she was staring off into the distant. Even as I approached, she showed no reaction, and continued to state. I had to talk in my soothing, encouraging voice, and pet her, before she finally calmed down a bit. It still took a while, and she went down one step at a time, spending a minute or two on each step, and examining her surroundings. But she did eventually seem much more comfortable, and at one point, it seemed like she was going from person to person, getting reassurances and love from Mom, Pop, and myself, and going back and forth, like the endless recycling logo, except for love and encouragement. She hid again when we left to go furniture & grocery shopping, but apparently came out an hour after the couch and love set delivery guys left, and maybe half an hour after I left.
That first full day was spent mostly driving around, looking for furniture, and doing a bit of grocery shopping. Mostly, it was about covering the bases for at least the bare essentials, to make living their at least feasible for the first few days. We did that, and they were able to get their first new furniture delivery that day, a new couch and love seat combo that both my parents felt was comfortable. But it was getting late in the afternoon, and there really was not even much time after that. I needed to start getting back, and so once again, I did not get as much done as I had hoped for them.
As for me, I left hoping to avoid the storm and the strong winds, but got caught in some fairly serious snow flurries, and the more serious gusting winds. I progressed slowly, and needed to take some breaks to eat and just relax, waiting out the storms. So, I got to some landmark areas later than expected. Reached Binghamton just before midnight, and stopped shortly thereafter at the Pennsylvania border, because I was too worn out to continue. Was starting to feel woozy, and my mind felt cloudy. Not conditions to drive, especially at night on a windy, potentially stormy night. So, it was time for some shuteye.
Finally woke up shivering some hours later, and it was in the wee hours. Wound up getting home around 4:40am. Not much fun. That said, I did see a bald eagle along the way during the snowstorm (actually, just before it really started sticking, or just as it did). I had noticed some crows eating a dead carcass on the side, and saw that one of them had different colored feathers. But as it flew away, I saw a white head and some white on the wings, and saw in clear profile a bald eagle. Only the second time I saw one in the wild like that, and what a thrill that was! Wish I had the opportunity to take a picture, but the circumstances were not right. I also could not get a bright red cardinal in the snow literally just outside of my motel window earlier yesterday morning for the same reason.
It was not as productive or as complete a move as I had hoped for, and I had wanted to do much more to help make their move a bit smoother. To make the new house feel a bit more like an actual home sooner. But nevertheless, they seemed happy to have finally made the move, and despite feeling that I could and should have done more, there was some contentment to have done something to help them finally make this transition.
Congratulations to them on the move to their beautiful new home, and my sincerest best wishes to them for the future!
It seemed logical to add the previous blog entry about my parents new place. No new pictures were added from this trip, although I think it will make more sense to perhaps do this next time, when the house feels less empty, and when the pictures of the empty house below can be contrasted with a more homey feel next time, hopefully! In any case, here is the blog entry that I published for them shortly after out trip there last month:
That was when we hoped to finally try and comfort the cat. Once she had arrived at her new home, the cat was scared and, understandably, hid. That first night, we were all too wiped out to do much of anything, except get reservations at the local motel. When we came back with the breakfast, the cat was hiding. I found her on the top step, next to the closed door. Her ears were folded down, and she was staring off into the distant. Even as I approached, she showed no reaction, and continued to state. I had to talk in my soothing, encouraging voice, and pet her, before she finally calmed down a bit. It still took a while, and she went down one step at a time, spending a minute or two on each step, and examining her surroundings. But she did eventually seem much more comfortable, and at one point, it seemed like she was going from person to person, getting reassurances and love from Mom, Pop, and myself, and going back and forth, like the endless recycling logo, except for love and encouragement. She hid again when we left to go furniture & grocery shopping, but apparently came out an hour after the couch and love set delivery guys left, and maybe half an hour after I left.
That first full day was spent mostly driving around, looking for furniture, and doing a bit of grocery shopping. Mostly, it was about covering the bases for at least the bare essentials, to make living their at least feasible for the first few days. We did that, and they were able to get their first new furniture delivery that day, a new couch and love seat combo that both my parents felt was comfortable. But it was getting late in the afternoon, and there really was not even much time after that. I needed to start getting back, and so once again, I did not get as much done as I had hoped for them.
As for me, I left hoping to avoid the storm and the strong winds, but got caught in some fairly serious snow flurries, and the more serious gusting winds. I progressed slowly, and needed to take some breaks to eat and just relax, waiting out the storms. So, I got to some landmark areas later than expected. Reached Binghamton just before midnight, and stopped shortly thereafter at the Pennsylvania border, because I was too worn out to continue. Was starting to feel woozy, and my mind felt cloudy. Not conditions to drive, especially at night on a windy, potentially stormy night. So, it was time for some shuteye.
Finally woke up shivering some hours later, and it was in the wee hours. Wound up getting home around 4:40am. Not much fun. That said, I did see a bald eagle along the way during the snowstorm (actually, just before it really started sticking, or just as it did). I had noticed some crows eating a dead carcass on the side, and saw that one of them had different colored feathers. But as it flew away, I saw a white head and some white on the wings, and saw in clear profile a bald eagle. Only the second time I saw one in the wild like that, and what a thrill that was! Wish I had the opportunity to take a picture, but the circumstances were not right. I also could not get a bright red cardinal in the snow literally just outside of my motel window earlier yesterday morning for the same reason.
It was not as productive or as complete a move as I had hoped for, and I had wanted to do much more to help make their move a bit smoother. To make the new house feel a bit more like an actual home sooner. But nevertheless, they seemed happy to have finally made the move, and despite feeling that I could and should have done more, there was some contentment to have done something to help them finally make this transition.
Congratulations to them on the move to their beautiful new home, and my sincerest best wishes to them for the future!
It seemed logical to add the previous blog entry about my parents new place. No new pictures were added from this trip, although I think it will make more sense to perhaps do this next time, when the house feels less empty, and when the pictures of the empty house below can be contrasted with a more homey feel next time, hopefully! In any case, here is the blog entry that I published for them shortly after out trip there last month:
Congratulations to My Parents on Their New Home! originally published on January 12, 2019:
Many years ago, my parents retired. They began the arduous search for an ideal house, in a hopefully ideal location, that they could peacefully enjoy their retirement years in.
This search went on and on. It lasted years. There were trips to various regions, including upstate New York to the north, the Shenandoah Valley to the south, and West Virginia to the southwest. They were looking online at some homes in Pennsylvania, and as far away as Tennessee. Some homes looked good, even really good. But it always seemed that when they found what appeared to be the ideal home, something went wrong. Either the house wound up not offering anywhere near as much as the online description suggested, or the house had just gotten sold.
Obviously, when these kinds of incidents pile up, one after the other, it was a frustrating process. I even remember a point when my parents essentially gave up, and just decided that they would retire at their present house, even though they were tired of living in suburban New Jersey for various reasons, not least of which being the high cost of living and taxes. Also, that house has had some problems, and in some cases some bad memories, attached to it for years.
Perhaps that is why they resumed their search before too long. Suddenly, there were trips to distant locations again. Suddenly, they were looking at some homes again online.
Then, in November, they found the ideal house, almost by accident. The local real estate agent was hesitating to even show them the house, since it was perched on a hill, and with the winters in upstate New York, where this house is located, being quite harsh, she thought it might be too much for them. But my father suggested that they might as well take a look while there are up there. Why not, right?
Well, this ended up being the one! It was a great house, in a relatively ideal location, by a town with some life to it. The house appeared to be in good shape, and was exactly what they were looking for! Best of all, it was affordable. Very affordable!
When I found out, it was while my son and I were coming home from a trip up north to the Adirondacks and to Canada over an extended weekend. I called my mom, and she said that she had some news, that they had bought a house, and it was a done deal already. It was a shock, but I hoped that it was what they were looking for.
It is ironic that I found out that they had bought the house while returning from a trip to Canada, because I went up to accompany them, and help move in the first few items into their new home this past week, and fit in a brief trip to another part of Canada, one that was a couple of hours drive away from their new location. I had to see the house for myself, because of how amazing it sounded and looked. I saw the pictures, and could hardly believe that they had managed to find such a beautiful place for so cheap!
This search went on and on. It lasted years. There were trips to various regions, including upstate New York to the north, the Shenandoah Valley to the south, and West Virginia to the southwest. They were looking online at some homes in Pennsylvania, and as far away as Tennessee. Some homes looked good, even really good. But it always seemed that when they found what appeared to be the ideal home, something went wrong. Either the house wound up not offering anywhere near as much as the online description suggested, or the house had just gotten sold.
Obviously, when these kinds of incidents pile up, one after the other, it was a frustrating process. I even remember a point when my parents essentially gave up, and just decided that they would retire at their present house, even though they were tired of living in suburban New Jersey for various reasons, not least of which being the high cost of living and taxes. Also, that house has had some problems, and in some cases some bad memories, attached to it for years.
Perhaps that is why they resumed their search before too long. Suddenly, there were trips to distant locations again. Suddenly, they were looking at some homes again online.
Then, in November, they found the ideal house, almost by accident. The local real estate agent was hesitating to even show them the house, since it was perched on a hill, and with the winters in upstate New York, where this house is located, being quite harsh, she thought it might be too much for them. But my father suggested that they might as well take a look while there are up there. Why not, right?
Well, this ended up being the one! It was a great house, in a relatively ideal location, by a town with some life to it. The house appeared to be in good shape, and was exactly what they were looking for! Best of all, it was affordable. Very affordable!
When I found out, it was while my son and I were coming home from a trip up north to the Adirondacks and to Canada over an extended weekend. I called my mom, and she said that she had some news, that they had bought a house, and it was a done deal already. It was a shock, but I hoped that it was what they were looking for.
It is ironic that I found out that they had bought the house while returning from a trip to Canada, because I went up to accompany them, and help move in the first few items into their new home this past week, and fit in a brief trip to another part of Canada, one that was a couple of hours drive away from their new location. I had to see the house for myself, because of how amazing it sounded and looked. I saw the pictures, and could hardly believe that they had managed to find such a beautiful place for so cheap!
It really is a magnificent home! It has three bedrooms, and another room that, I think, could be turned into a bedroom, if they so wish. It also has two full bathrooms, and a decent amount of property. Not excessive. It is not a mansion. But it is nice. Surely, the nicest home that either of them likely has had.
They earned it, I think. Both of them worked long and hard hours for many years. My father had suffered some physical injuries and endured ailments, to the point that he is partially crippled. And they had been searching long and far for a decent, affordable home to be able to enjoy their retirement in.
Frankly, I do not think that they could have found a much better place, or more bang for their buck than they did with their new place.
It is perched on a hill and overlooks the town below, which is surprisingly vibrant and full of businesses, in an area where most towns do not have all of that going for them. They live on a hill that could prove treacherous during the winter, but they are ready to prepare for that by buying enough in advance to last several weeks, if need be.
Seemingly, they are set in the new place. I sure do hope it works out for them, and believe that it will. Really, it is a beauty.
Congratulations again to my parents on their well-deserved, beautiful new home!
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