The latter part of May 2009, Richard and I packed up all our stuff and moved to south Georgia. I had been unable to find a job in Atlanta and money had run out. After Mama passed away in 2007, we decided that when we retired we wanted to get out of the big city, and live in a smaller town and be closer to my dad. This was our 2nd move in 6 months. Richard would move in with my stepfather in Atlanta and continue to work up there until he retired, and he would come home on the weekends.
We put our stuff in storage and moved what we could into my dad’s. Daddy’s 84 now, and while he does pretty well for someone that age, he has trouble getting around because of his legs. It was quite an adjustment for him since he had lived alone for over 20 years. There were times where I thought I had made a big mistake by moving in with him, but we managed to work it out.
Then in July, Daddy started looking at larger mobile homes. At first I thought he was looking for a larger one to give us more space, but found out that he was actually looking for me. He said there just wasn’t enough room, and deep down I know he missed his privacy. I told him I didn’t want him using his money for me, but when Daddy makes up his mind to do something, there’s no changing his mind.
After a couple of weeks, he found one that he and I really liked. It was a 3 bedroom doublewide that was in great condition on 1.2 acres of land and only 7 miles from him. He bought the property the first part of August, and I moved in. Daddy says no one can make us move now. Both Richard and I are so very grateful, and while I say never say never, we are never moving again.
It’s a lot less stressful living in the country than living in the city. I can look outside and actually see the stars at night because the sky isn’t lit up by city lights. There’s a lot more privacy. We can play our stereo as loud as we want when we’re watching a movie. We have room to expand. There are definite pluses to living here.
But there are some drawbacks. What I miss the most is the high speed internet. The closest town is Waycross. It’s 15 miles away, and it’s a small town. I can’t just hop in the car and be at the grocery store in 5 minutes. We have a Kroger, Walmart, Lowe’s, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday and a few fast food restaurants. We even have a mall, but it’s very small and only has J.C. Penney’s, Belk’s, and Sears. No Chili’s, no Kohl’s, no Home Depot, no Great Clips. I have found a Chinese restaurant that I really like.
The town I live in now is so small that there is no traffic light. You actually pass right through it on the way to our home. Richard still works in Atlanta during the week and comes home on the weekend. I’m close enough to Daddy that I can be there in about 10 minutes. While I have a lot of family here, I really miss not being near my kids who both are still near Atlanta.
There’s plenty of room here for a garden and a water garden/pond. Richard’s got lots of plans and projects he wants to work on. Right now he’s working on building an outside shed to store our lawn equipment. Then he wants to start on a deck for the front.
Richard comes home every Friday afternoon and leaves Monday mornings. I really look forward to the time when he retires and moves down here permanently. I know he’ll be glad too.
So this city girl has gone country. I love living here. Life is good.
