After moving to a new state, we 'embrace the place where we are'

Spectrum
Maturity
Friday, April 7, 2006
After moving to a new state, we ‘embrace the place we are'
My father used to say, “If I can't have what I want, I want what I have.” When I was young I didn't understand what that meant. It sounded like he was settling for less than what he really wanted. As I got older, the saying started making sense to me, and I found myself understanding it to mean that you need to look for the good side of what you have instead of complaining about what you don't have. Or as my favorite preacher, Joel Osteen, advises, “Embrace the place where you are.” When my husband and I decided to move from our home in New Milford — a town we truly loved—not long ago, I couldn't imagine being as happy anyplace else as we were there. But little by little we're noticing all the joy we're getting out of our new environment in North Carolina . The first joy came from living in a house that needed nothing fixed. Then there was the weather. We never expected to be living in an area where we didn't need winter coats or boots the entire winter. There were days in December, January and February when the temperature was in the 50s or 60s. In March we even had some 70- and 80– degree days. As pretty as Snow made the landscape in New Milford, it was awfully nice this winter not to have to worry about how to get the car out of the driveway or bout hurting ourselves shoveling snow. (Having a garage for he first time in over 50 years of marriage is another plus.) When we bought the house we're now in, we had no idea what kind of plantings surrounded it, but in the last month or two, we were gifted to see a beautiful camellia tree in full bloom outside our kitchen window, daffodils all around our mailbox, and even a magnolia tree on our front lawn. This week, we realized that all the bushes surrounding the very tall pine trees in front and back of the house are actually azaleas. Loads of them in white, light pink and dark pink, are presently in the process of blooming. (My cup runneth over with joy!) One morning I had another surprise. When I woke up and faced the window a short space away from my bed, I was startled to see a bright red glow between the bottom two slats of the wooden blind. My first thought was a panic that something outside was on fire. As I “sprang from my bed” to get a closer look at what was happening, “what to my wondering eyes should appear", but a glorious sunrise. I stood by the window in awe as the bright red color spread itself into pinks and golds and tinted any clouds in the vicinity with shades of salmon interspersing the blue sky. In our old house, my husband and I used to love the amazing sunsets we saw from our windows facing west — I often ran outside to photograph them — and we knew that was something we would miss if we didn't see Sunsets in our new home. Having sunrises to view now is another example of “if we can't have what we want, we want what we have.” - Allow me to give just one more example: It has to do with proving that where there's a will, there's a way. I mentioned before that our new home is smaller than our old one, which is good because there's less to take care of, but it's not so good if one wants to invite 12 people to dinner, which I did to celebrate my husband's birthday and one of our sons' birthday on a Sunday between both those two dates. After I already invited everyone for pot roast dinner (to be cooked in my trusty old red pot with one handle missing) I wondered how to fit 12 people at a table that seats only six and is in a small area off the kitchen. Putting ingenuity into practice, I remembered that we had a small patio table on the back porch and a card table and chairs in the garage, so those were set up in the family room adjoining the official dining area, and it was like we had a little bistro restaurant where everyone could talk to each other, pass the salt or butter, and enjoy camaraderie with the whole family.  As far as the town itself goes, I have to admit that the people who set up the town of New Milford did a marvelous job of centralizing all the important places in which a person has to do business. In New Milford the post office, banks, library, pharmacy, Senior Center, lawyers, churches, restaurants and other stores can all be reached from one parking area. In our new town, there are many, many shopping centers, but the post office, most banks and professionals like doctors and lawyers are in separate areas that need extra driving. Worse yet, we found that most doctors in our new town are not accepting Medicare patients. Until now, I thought all physicians had to accept it, but the excuse seems to be “no new Medicare patients.” One other thing: I'd like to warn people who are thinking of moving to another state to check if their medical insurance will be affected by the move. We had the shock of learning out-of-state can result in not so pleasant changes as far as coverage is concerned. (Here's a case where my father's saying isn't so easy to accept, but I guess there are exceptions to every rule, right?) Just being with our family, though, is worth whatever it takes.
Terri Andersen, who lived in New Milford for 36 years before relocating to North Carolina a few months ago, has been a regular columnist in the "Spectrum Maturity” section of The Greater New Milford Spectrum the past several years.