Almost five years ago I made the decision to sell my house and
move into a 55Plus apartment complex in the small town that I live in. It
was a difficult decision as my late husband and I had built our "forever
retirement home" with the intentions that we would live there until the
end of our lives. Unfortunately, life did not work out as we had planned and he
died in 2012 from Alzheimer’s disease.
I stayed in our home for three
years after his death and spent those three years trying to maintain a house
and yard. It was hard. It was very, very hard. I was not
getting any younger and it just became more than I felt like I could physically
or mentally continue with the upkeep of all that was involved with maintenance
of house and yard.
I knew that I wanted to remain
in our small town and the selection of apartments were minimal. I did not
want another house to maintain and certainly no yard. Fortunately, I was
able to get into a fairly new 55Plus apartment complex and I made the move
almost five years ago.
It has been an adjustment but I
know it was the best decision for me at this time of my life. No yard
work and no maintenance. Is it perfect? No, it is not. There
are problems. Space is one of them. In my house I had a very large
sewing room upstairs in the bonus room. I was spread out all over that
room with more fabrics and sewing machines than any person deserved. But
I did enjoy it while I had it. Also, I had a beautiful sunroom that was
probably my favorite room in the house. It looked out to my neighbor’s
small farm with his cows, goats and horses. I loved it. And I had a
nice sized garage.
Now I have two bedrooms, living
room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. My apartment is larger than many
two-bedroom apartments and I appreciate every inch I have. The second
bedroom I am using as my sewing room, but it is small. During this
pandemic I have overflowed into the dining room. My ironing board and
iron have been in use so much until I have left it up in the dining room area
and the dining room table has been converted to a cutting table and any other use,
I needed it for.
I cut my fabrics on the dining
room table. I start out sewing the quilt blocks in my sewing room.
At some point the blocks are sewn together and the quilt construction outgrows
the sewing room and I move to the dining room table.
So, if you ask me about my
apartment today, I would tell you I have an apartment for creating and sewing
quilts and it has a bed and bath for my personal use. The apartment has
become a quilt haven.
