Three Year Anniversary

It’s been three years since we moved from Capitol Hill to northern Virginia. Two plus of those years have been spent living in a pandemic - which took the joy out of our new place. We were looking forward to traveling every few months - to the Midwest and also to visit our family in central Virginia. Rather, we have and remain cooped up in our 1000 square foot condo, except for a morning walk and a weekly drive in to town. We are glad that we moved out of DC because it would have been difficult living there these last few years. It’s hard enough living there when things are going well. It would have been so much worse living there now. Would we have moved to a condo if we knew a pandemic would happen? I’m not so sure. We certainly looked at so many options before we settled here - even in Florida. At least here we have a parking space in an underground garage, a small balcony, and a clean environment close to essential services. We don’t really know our neighbors yet for obvious reasons. Our place still doesn’t feel like “home.” We just haven’t felt like putting in the final touches for so many reasons. I have a lot of ideas to make it ideal, but so many things have changed since we moved. Things just feel unsettled - or maybe I just feel unsettled. This should be a time for celebration. Retirement, doing the things we wanted to do without thinking much about it…. I feel more uncomfortable now than I ever did. That’s just not how it’s supposed to be.

We Moved One Year Ago Today

We lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. After searching to find a new home for about five years in Florida, Wisconsin, and Virginia, we decided northern Virginia was the place for us. We already spent a lot of time grocery shopping, going to restaurants, and shopping in this neighborhood. We would still be living just ten miles to DC and it would feel like we really never left our favorite things. Today marks the one year anniversary of our move date. How things have changed since then - most notably my mom passed away last month and we are all in the midst of a pandemic. For certain we can say that we are in more comfortable surroundings - especially since both my husband and I are in the “at risk” age group - although it seems like anyone could be affected. As with any new move it took a while for us to settle in. After six months we decided it was time to find a new doctor, dentist, eye doctor and they are all within walking distance. I switched to a new hair salon which is hardly a block away. Rather than walking the national mall every day we walk across the street to the park for a two mile jaunt - although we stopped walking three weeks ago and have stayed inside. In December I had a project in mind to paint all the homes we have lived in. It now hangs in our den. No one knows what the future holds - but that’s always been true. The only difference is that it’s too hard to plan anything right now. I’m so glad we made the change last year. So we will just try to enjoy the moment, take each day at a time, and stay in contact with the people we love. Thankfully we have kinda always felt that way.