We are in the throes of moving house from the one where we've lived for over forty years (at least during the school years) to a new home in Montana. We've been in and out of Montana for the past twenty-five, and before that I spent vacations there as a child because my mother was born in Montana and we still have family there.
So, once the grandkids started arriving in Montana -- and The Prof neared the age of retirement -- we decided it was time to make a move. It took nearly a decade, but hey, we don't jump at opporunities the second they appears.
Besides, now the Iowa grandkids are all pretty well-launched and will be visiting regularly, I'm sure. In fact some of them are actually coming with us next week (though they will be returning home eventually -- I think).
But before I go I want to say how much I have loved living in Iowa. My stepdad, who was raised here, could hardly wait to leave. I would never leave if it weren't for those grandkids.
I've spent two-thirds of my life here. It's where I reared my kids, started my career, raised my dogs -- and my one opinionated cat -- it's the place that I will always call home. It gave me great joy, and I know when I come back, which I will certainly do at least once a year so those grandsons can continue to go to sports camp until they're too old, it will capture my heart all over again.
Thank you, Iowa. I love you.
Montana, here we come!
Photos:
1) mine
2) copyright 2011, J Kennedy, used with permission
3) mine
4 comments:
How nice that you get to go FROM a place you love TO another place you love and with travel being what it is today, you never truly have to leave either. Packing up house after 40 years, though--I don't even want to go there. Good luck!
Best wishes with your move!
Denise
Liz, You're right. It's lovely to be able to have the memories we have of our years in Iowa -- and still have more to look forward to (I hope) in Montana. You're also right about packing up the house after 40 plus years of living here (especially when both The Prof and I have tons of books to move). What do people move who don't have books? I could be packed and out of here by breakfast if it weren't for the books!
Denise, Thanks for your good wishes. One way or another we will get it done, and we will be noticeably lighter in the possessions department as a result. And that can only be a good thing. I appreciated my mother taking charge of her own post-retirement move when she came here after 75 years in California (even though she wasn't filled with joy at the prospect of snowy winters). She traveled light -- and while we aren't quite so streamlined due to so many books, they are books of choice now.
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