This is the second time I’ve done it; the first time, from Atlanta to Los Angeles, was 30.5 years ago. I went to Disneyland for my 30th birthday!
My 60th will be spent in my new, small, Western North Carolina town. By the time the actual day gets here, we should be organized enough to throw a little open house for the neighbors on the cul-de-sac.
So, what precipitated this move?
Well, like many in our age cohort, we have aging parents. Two in my case, and my husband’s mother lives in San Francisco, in her own house, with his two siblings. She needs a good bit of help at this point, so it’s good they are there. My parents are fine, but a long-running family discussion produced the conclusion that we would all be best off if now-retired husband and I moved in with them. This way, we’re directly on hand for the inevitable day when they need help with daily life, or with medical care, or whatever. And in the meantime, we get to spend some time with them while they don’t need help.
This move involved a months-long planning process following a years-long prep period. My parents had a full basement that was already roughed in for an ADU. They built it out into a custom apartment for themselves, complete with three sets of sliding glass doors (the house is on a slope, so it was always a walk-out), leaving us with most of the ground floor and second floor.
Our original plans for transporting all our goods & chattels underwent several revisions, ending with a professional moving company taking the bulk of our stuff and us making the six-day cross-country drive in a 12-foot Budget truck with the things we most needed to keep eyes and hands on, including our cat, who was an absolute champ. She likes her big new house.
I had already set up a satellite home office in a spare room at my parents’ house. This meant I could sign on for remote work on the Monday after we rolled in, days before the movers got here. I will now be working 100% remote, instead of 99%. I’m not mad about it.
I have not yet started writing again, but I’ll have another launch post pretty soon for MILLENIUM, the short story connected to my August novella ETERNAL SUMMER, and THE GETAWAY, a single-title short story formerly published in JMS Books’ ACLU benefit anthology and lightly expanded for this release.
Our maybe we could call this the launch post?! Y’all, my to-do list is as long as my arm. Anyway, those links are to the book pages at JMS Books, and I encourage you to shop there. Tons of sales, and you always get the actual book file, not a “license.”