Eighteen Year Anniversary - Midwest to DC

Our grandson was three years old; he just turned twenty-one this month. It was eighteen years ago also this month that we moved from the Midwest - where we lived for thirty years - to DC. At the time we thought the tiny 500 square foot condo that we bought on Capitol Hill just down the street from our son and DIL would be used for routine visits - and not become our permanent hime. We left behind all of our friends, colleagues and a 2500 square foot home with an acre of land. I found a walk to work job at the Library of Congress which was a very unusual thing indeed since my career had been in health care. Now I am retired eight years already and we moved to northern Virginia five years ago. I oftentimes wonder if I would rather be back in the Midwest - especially since our family moved to central Virginia and after the pandemic upended all of our lives. We still go in to the city at least once a week because my husband loves it and it’s a good opportunity to get photos for my weekly photo challenge. But I do miss our friends and the old home and our beautiful borzoi Tatiana. We haven’t been traveling like we used to and so we are sort of “stuck.” We used to visit the Midwest every year and take overseas trips to visit family. It’s not all that bad, but I just don’t have the conversations I used to and we don’t socialize that much even though the condo here does have events now and again. It’s just not the same. I know I don’t miss the snow and the ice, but I never lived there without having to work in it. I know if we tried to go back it would never be the same. That’s just how it is. 

Wish We Won the Jackpot

Every once in a while I get melancholic about living in the Midwest. We lived there for thirty years and made many friends and had many more colleagues. I always keep up with available real estate there. Before we actually moved from the Midwest to Capitol Hill we bought the tiny condo there. Little did we know it would become our permanent home soon after I found a job at the Library of Congress. Now there is a place for sale near our old neighborhood that is in an area that we were interested in way back in 2006 when it was first built. My husband says we could afford to get it, but I don’t think so - especially in this unstable environment. We live in northern Virginia now but for whatever reason it just doesn’t feel like home. We just haven’t transformed it in to our place. I suppose the last two years have changed the way I feel about it. We haven’t gone anywhere or seen anyone except for two weekend visits to central Virginia. I’m sure I’ll get over it but there’s always the nagging feeling that we just aren’t settled. For the first time a couple of weeks ago we bought lottery tickets knowing full well we wouldn’t win a billion dollars. These are the days I wish we did. 

We Miss Our Midwest Home - But Not the Winter

It’s been almost fifteen years since we moved to the DC area from the Midwest. We bought a tiny condo as a “second” home on Capitol Hill that was located just down the street from our son and his family. A few months later I found a job at the Library of Congress - of all places - and was able to walk to wok for 10 years. We decided we could actually move in to the tiny 500 square foot space and we sold our home - in a day. We gave up a lot to move to DC after living in the Midwest for thirty years where all of our friends and colleagues still live. We spent a lot of time creating a living space that was almost perfect for our needs, had a beautiful borzoi, and lived our adult lives. And we never looked back. Since then our family moved four hours away to the middle of Virginia a few years back and we moved to northern Virginia two years ago shortly after I retired. Having been cooped up for the last year, I really started to miss our old home, and dog, and friends, and colleagues, and yard. So I looked back at the photos that were used on the real estate advertisement. Yes, some things look dated and the house has been changed to the new occupants liking. We’ve seen it several times when we went back to visit our next door neighbors. It’s a weird feeling to see your house from the neighbors yard. I painted a picture of all the houses we have lived in over the years and that home was the one we spent the most time in. We have a lot of memories and sometimes I wish we still lived there. But if we didn’t take the opportunity to move to DC when we did who knows what would have happened? The one thing I do know is that the winter was never my favorite time of year and it lasts much too long there. And it looks so much better since the pandemic. So hopefully as things begin to open up again and we can move about more again I won’t feel so nostalgic. I wonder how long that is going to take? 

Care Package from Milwaukee

We lived in the Midwest for thirty years. We moved to DC twelve years ago when I got a job at the Library of Congress. Since then I have kept in touch with several folks I worked with, but also developed closer friendships with others. Whenever we visit Milwaukee there are certain people we always contact and visit. Some of them have come to visit us here in DC, and that happened a few weeks back when a colleague/friend stayed with us a couple of days while on business for Marquette. We worked together in a very large health care system, and I happened to get my master in nursing degree from Marquette. So yesterday when I went to pick up the mail there was an unexpected package waiting for us on the shelf. I knew who it was from right away and both my husband and I were curious to uncover the contents - because Paul has a very unique personality and we knew it would be thoughtfully put together. And wouldn’t you know we were not surprised by what we found - the interesting chocolates, Werther’s Original caramel hard candies, beer nuts, a beer salami, and a Marquette T-shirt. Along with it came a very heartwarming and funny letter that had both my husband and I laughing - and thinking about how nice it is to know someone like Paul. He’s the kind of guy who is uplifting and very nice to know. My husband is now composing a note to rival the one we received. Some of the finest people we know live in Milwaukee. We think about them often and always appreciate their friendship. 

 

The Old Homestead

Every year or two we make the pilgrimage to our old town. We lived in Milwaukee thirty years. Unfortunately that means a trip to the airport - not something I like. But once the hassles of getting there are done, it's so nice to see some of our favorite people. We really miss them since we moved to DC. There is something about the Midwest. We stay with our neighbors and this trip we will also be visiting with many friends and past colleagues. It seems a lot of people we know are leaving DC for Arizona and Virginia. I'm not sure when it will be our turn. So until that happens we'll keep making these little trips because I have a feeling we won't ever move back here. We may even end up staying where we are - and I'm not sure how I feel about it.