Moving Home at 50
By: Danielle Halstead, Area Sales Manager for New Brighton
I made a decision to sell the big house and downsize, now that both of my boys have grown and gone. We all go through that moment of "OMG, what should I do?" We talk to our children and tell them we are going to sell the house and move. They all say "you can't sell the house we grew up in" and throw a bit of a tantrum. Then they calm down and realize that the house is just too big for Mom... let's face it, they also don't want to mow the large lawn anymore, either.
So I list the house and write my offer with Cedarglen Homes to build my new house. I am so excited and think that I have a lot of time to sell as my new home won't be ready for 9 months. Herein lies the problem though... my house sells in 12 DAYS and I have to be out in ONE MONTH! Panic now sets in and I am busy organizing storage, packing and moving. Somewhere in my madness, I realize that I have nowhere to live. So I phone my Mom and Dad and ask what their feelings are on me moving in with them until my house is ready... OF COURSE they say yes and are so excited. They prepare my old room, and back in I move. This is where it gets interesting though... I have lived there for one week and start to realize that they still think I am 12. They tuck me in at night, give me heck for leaving the lights on and need to use the phone the minute I start using it.
The only difference with living at home this time is that they need me more than I need them. It's funny how time changes things: I am taking my sweet mother for walks now and when SHE gets tired, I put her in the seat of her walker and push her home. When it is time for dinner, they look to me for the suggestions of what to make. When Dad needs help in the garage because his hands don't work properly, it is me he calls for to be his extra set of hands.
I will tell you that it takes patience, but the time we get to spend with our elderly parents is time that can never be taken back. It really puts life into a full-circle perspective, as they need us now as much as we needed them when we were growing up.