A New Beginning

Not everyone has the privilege of starting over. I do!!!!

New apartment. New town. New life to create at my will. And how did I get here? I myself am not sure.

For the past five years I have been looking to move. Most of this time I spent looking at real estate in New York City. I had a vision, a clear picture of what I wanted in an apartment. I had a list but the first thing on it was light, lots and lots of windows and light. The remainder of the list was specific items and, of course, some had to do with my dogs.

Last winter I was searching the web and came across a condominium complex in Rye New York. Move out of the city? Well yes. I had been in my apartment for the entire pandemic and watched the the closings of stores, bank branches, businesses and restaurants scrambling to survive. Out of the city was a possibility.

The Rye opportunity was tempting but still did not feel right. They pushed and I dragged my feet. It did however open the possibility that life in the country might be a relief. My next call was to a friend, a realtor, in Bedford where I grew up. No condos there so he sent me to New Canaan.

The third apartment I saw was it. So much light, a front lawn and a back terrace for outside life and, of course, for my dogs. Down my list. Check. Check. Check. Check. This was it, the place for me. Decision made. Purchase and sale signed. That was in January. It is now June.

There have been so many issues, starts and stops. Too many to bore you with the details. Lots of work for the lawyers. The future looks bright as I finally closed on Monday of this week.

Last week the real move happened. Six men descended on my apartment and in three hours they were gone with the truck and my recent possessions. The van then stopped at my storage unit, picked up more stuff and landed at my new home early afternoon.

A kind of numbness has kept me going the past few days. Empty boxes, where to put things, what to keep, what to family, what to Goodwill. It seems an out of body experience as I watch reminders of my entire life appear to be sorted.

This is not a one week job. My garage is half full with stuff collected over many years. At this point in my life I am no longer attached to any of my possessions, just a sense of gratitude and faint remembering. Faint for the memories seem like images on a movie screen. They are distant and very far away.

The first question people ask is ‘do you know anyone there?’ The answer is no but I grew up in the area and have friends in neighboring towns. And, as it often does, it turns out I have family here. Who knew? One of the benefits of having a large Irish Catholic family.

I marvel at my fortunate life. How blessed I am to have amassed the amount of stuff that is now in my garage. Conversely, it feels amazing to weed, re-home and simplify. Just to keep the things I really love. And the opportunity to start over in the home of my imagination.

Now, I must go unpack another box.