MY VIEW
Barbara Joslin: Our longtime home is still perfect for us
I’m sitting on my front porch, finishing my coffee, remembering when we moved to this quiet, suburban street 44 years ago.
We built our home never realizing how perfect the location would be. It was just a three-bedroom colonial, with a family room and a single-car garage, but to us, with our four little boys, it seemed like a mansion.
With bunk beds in the boys’ rooms, it was ideal. When all of them grew to be 6z feet tall, the teenage years were a bit testy with masking tape strips on the floor, marking each one’s territory.
The single garage was fine at first, but soon there was a car for me and as the boys reached 16, they bought their own fixer-uppers and more space was needed.
We kept our cement man busy widening our driveway as each son became a car owner. Now we have the biggest driveway on our street for just the two of us.
What fun those years were. Our neighbors were mostly young families. A common sight during nice weather was seeing stay-at-home mothers having coffee in one of the driveways while the kids played.
Of course, things changed as the years passed. Some moved away, others divorced. The children went to college, got jobs and started their own families. Left in houses they felt were too big, many couples moved into condos or apartments. Some didn’t want to deal with stairs, so they bought a ranch. Others, sick of the winters, moved South.
But we have stayed. The house is perfect for us. The boys’ bedrooms are now a guest room and an office for my husband who still operates his business. A basement bedroom, built by a frustrated teenager, is now my craft and sewing room. And the stairs give us the daily exercise we need.
Moving South? Our winters aren’t that unbearable and the other three seasons — no matter how short — are lovely. We’ll stay here, close enough to enjoy our grandchildren. We’re lucky that they have all settled nearby.
I have friends in Florida who think “The Villages” is the next best thing to heaven. It’s fine for them, but I don’t want a committee telling me what color I can paint my house or what shrubs I can plant. My friends rave that it’s all so contained; everything they need is right on the grounds and you never have to leave. Well, the same things can be said about Attica or Sing Sing.
The main thing I don’t like about retirement communities is that I would be surrounded by old people. Here, I can see young families. Sadly, most of the little ones are carted off to day care — a sign of the times. Some of the couples have no children yet, and others choose to have only dogs. I see middle-age people with teenagers — God bless them. And I see the older people, those neighbors who have chosen to stay as we have.
My fondest wish is that all of these wonderful neighbors will be able to look back on their lives on this street with the same joy and love that we can.
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