Hi Bill
A few months
ago Pat and I watched the movie ‘Five Flights Up’ starring Diane Keaton and
Morgan Freeman. IMDb describes the plot of this quirky movie as: “A long-time
married couple who've spent their lives together in the same New York apartment
become overwhelmed by personal and real estate-related issues when they plan to
move away.” After decades of life in this “walk-up” (no elevator) fifth-floor
apartment, they and their aging dog struggle getting up (and down) the stairs
and they begin looking to move. It’s a storyline that I think resonates in people
around our age.
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| Pat and I liked this movie very much. |
I know you
have never visited us since we moved here, but you have heard us talk about our
house and we have sent you photos. Our house has three-bedrooms and provides a
walkout from our family room to the backyard. The family room is large enough
to accommodate my pool table and a comfortable TV/entertainment area. We have
had extensive work done on the house over the years, including seamless steel
siding, a kitchen remodel, beautiful landscaping by our son-in-law, two new
roofs (thanks to hail storms) and a fenced area in our backyard where our three
little dogs can run, play and bark.
Our house sits on a large lot adjacent to Rocky Run Golf Course.
Our back yard leads directly to the tee for the fourth fairway, which extends
straight away from our property. Therefore we don’t need to worry about inept
golfers who might accidently ding our house with their pathetic golf swings. I
think you know that I am not a golfer, but we walk our dogs on the golf course
and we think of it as our own park. Of course we stay away from the golfers and
clean up after the dogs when we walk.
When we first moved to South Dakota, back in 1983, we
explored the area including our town and we were very impressed with it. We
thought it was very charming with the Big Sioux River running through it and a
very nice city park along the river. Back
then, we thought it would be a great place to live. However, at that time I did
not want to commute to work, especially during SD winters, so we settled in the
Brookings area.
However in 2001, Pat’s new job in Sioux Falls precipitated
our move to “Our Little Town” – the one that we had thought would be a nice
place to live when we first moved to SD. Pat and I both became commuters and it
was mostly okay, except during South Dakota winter snow/ice/blizzard events and
highway construction projects, etc.
Soon after we moved here, we began thinking of our life as a
“Life in Paradise.” Our town has pretty much everything we need including a
small hospital, a medical clinic, stores that provide the necessities, a great
vintage movie theatre, and some decent restaurants, fast food, etc.
However, lately we are questioning whether we should move to
Sioux Falls. Our daughter lives in the city and she would like us to move there,
where it would be easier for us to get together with her. She would also be
more available to help us during times of need. The half-hour drive to the big
city is really not a big deal, but there are times when making that drive is
not easy and/or possible due to weather. In addition, we aren’t getting any
younger and keeping our property under control and in good condition is not going
to get easier as we get older. Also at some point in time, health problems may
necessitate that we move to the city.
In addition, while we have many friendly acquaintances, we
really don’t have any close friends in “Our Little Town,” which is probably typical
for outsiders who move to small towns. However, that may not change even if we
moved to the city. Pat and I like people, but we are not the most social people
around and that would probably not change much if we moved.
Perhaps the most compelling factor that makes us think about
moving to the city is the upkeep on our house and especially the property. Yes
I have a John Deere lawn tractor and a snowblower. Yes we have maintained the
house and property in good condition. However, when something goes wrong we
often need to seek help from experts in the city who often add travel costs to
their work invoices.
In addition, it would be much easier for us to attend
events, such as movies and concerts, if we lived in the city. As we have aged,
driving 30+ minutes to an event and then back home late at night on the vacant
plains is not always fun, especially in the winter. Retail therapy would also
be much easier if we lived in the city, although that may not be such a good
thing.
Anyway, we frequently
debate whether to move to the city or stay here.
However, one major factor in our dilemma is that we love our
house! It is not opulent or a palace, but it is the perfect house for us, and
thinking about leaving it makes us sad. A year or so ago we looked at a few
houses and condos in the city. When we talked with a couple of realtors, they
both said pretty much the same thing: “Why would you want to move from a house
on the golf course that you love, in a beautiful little town, to a house here
in the city?” We don’t quite know the answer to that question yet, but it is something that we discuss quite often.
The movie, ‘5 Flights Up’ made us realize that this dilemma
is one that many aging people struggle with, but it did not help us decide what
to do.
For now we believe we will stay here in our beloved little
house in paradise. However, there is little doubt that the “Stay or Go”
discussion will continue.
Bill, I hope everything is good in your home in paradise.
Sincerely,
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