And then I remembered that this is reality—the world, as we know it, has essentially come to a standstill.
The Best Laid Plans…
If all had gone according to plan, we would have been on the road last week. We would have waved goodbye to the pretty little town of Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle where we’ve been since mid-January, clearing out my parents’ home and preparing it for sale.
We would have been on our way to see my folks in Jacksonville, and then heading to Savannah for a music festival to kick off our spring and summer travels. But in the past several weeks, everything has come to a screeching halt. My folks’ assisted living facility was locked down, the Savannah Music Festival was canceled, and every day brings more emails from state and national parks informing us of closures.
All of those hard-won reservations, all of that meticulous planning—gone. Pfffft. Are we disappointed? Yes. We worked our butts off on my folks’ house for two months, with the goal of taking off in March for a blissful summer of new adventures. Instead, like everyone else, we find ourselves tossed into a sea of uncertainty.
Obviously, we aren’t going anywhere. We’re hunkered down here in Apalachicola for the foreseeable future, which is not foreseeable at all.
One thing we know: We are grateful to be in a beautiful, remote place. The Forgotten Coast seems like a good place to be right now. And we feel especially fortunate to have my folks’ home to stay in while we ride this out. It’s a good thing we didn’t put it on the market.
Now What?
Still, my emotions ricochet between anxiety, uncertainty, and grief. I can’t help but wonder, “How long will this last? When will it be safe to be with other people? How will we collectively emerge from this? What does this mean for our world?”
There are no answers.
The truth is that life is always a big unknown. We can pretend all we want that we have life under control, but the reality is that we never do. We’ve had plenty of experience with having the rug pulled out from under us (Eric’s unexpected heart surgery several years ago was a big one). Few of us make it through life without some measure of suffering.
But there hasn’t been anything quite like this, with the entire world suddenly thrown into a vortex of uncertainty.
We’ve prepared ourselves as best we can. We have a month’s supply of good food, a freezer full of fresh Gulf seafood, and a home in a beautiful location where we can stay for the duration.
Searching for the silver lining in this time of crisis, perhaps we can enjoy being here now that our job with my folks’ house is complete. But because we have been rigorously adhering to social distancing guidelines for a couple of weeks, many of the fun things we would ordinarily do are off the table. (Not to mention that Florida is entering into a 30-day mandated stay-at-home order as of today. FINALLY.)
Fortunately, Franklin County has been proactive and has been taking the pandemic seriously, long before the governor decided to get real about this. We are grateful for the people on the front lines in our small town…the workers at the Piggly Wiggly who keep the shelves stocked, the UPS driver who delivers packages to us several times a week, the sheriff who ran a Georgia politician out of town when he showed up at his vacation home here after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Emerging From Our Epic Archeological Dig
It has been a very long two-and-a-half months, starting with our huge project on my parents’ home. In mid-January, we parked our trailer on my folks’ property and set to work rooting out the home they built on the bay almost forty years ago.
On the surface, the house always looked tidy. But every closet, cabinet, and drawer was stuffed with an astonishing array of possessions. As was the garage, studio, and workshop. I don’t think my parents ever got rid of anything. And they both had a LOT of interests.
We spent two solid months clearing out, cleaning, and donating stuff. My sister’s idea was 1) have a huge dumpster delivered and throw everything away, or 2) set the house on fire. Being the responsible citizens that we are, our goal was to find new homes for everything, recycle what could be reused, and haul as little to the landfill as possible.
It was so overwhelming that I just started pulling things out of closets and drawers without any kind of good plan. I made things MUCH worse before I made them better.
I tell you, there were times that I wished we had just taken my sister’s advice.
It has been a daunting project. There is no way I could have done this without Eric. He dug in, taking care of whatever was in front of him. My dad’s workshop, the boat, the truck, the car, the acre of property that was sorely neglected…he took it all on.
We were lucky to find wonderful people to help with cleaning, major repairs, and yard work. There’s no way we could have done everything on our own. We found new homes for everything…books went to the library, clothing to local churches, household goods to a thrift store that benefits the community, furniture to local folks in need. There was very little that ended up at the landfill. It made me feel good to know that my parents’ belongings have gone to help people in the community that they love.
Some of our finds were hilarious…the Elvis collection, for example. My folks threw an occasional “Elvis Tribute Party” as a joke.
The Good & The Not-So-Good Of Strolling Down Memory Lane
My realm was mostly the inside of the house, and the epic archeological dig of rooting through decades of my parents’ lives, which, of course, included memorabilia of my life. The journey brought up wonderful memories, and it also brought up some not so great ones. (That high school angst? Didn’t really need to revisit that.)
What does make me happy is seeing so much evidence of the pure delight that my parents shared in their 71 years of life together. The last couple of years haven’t been easy, but they had a good long run.
I had completely forgotten about this high school formal. The photographer gathered together our class officers—which were all girls. Pretty radical for the time! My ex-boyfriend is on the far right, my boyfriend at the time refused to go, and I coerced my cousin into going with me. Life felt so complicated.
And Now, A Public Service Announcement
Stay well, dear friends.
Thank you for that last comment, and photo. I was in tears until I saw it, and burst out laughing.
Lopez Island has only had one identified COVID-19 case, but things are pretty well shut down. Orcas has a couple, and San Juan a couple. Unfortunately, one of the cases on San Juan was someone working at the hospital, so we’ll see.
This is, and will be, a hell of a roller coaster ride. It is certainly testing our little egos in our attempts to create the world in our own design.
I’ve set up some resources on my counseling website. http://www.artwellspring.com/covid-19.html If anyone needs some suggestions on information, and ways to spend their time.
A big elbow hug to you and Eric.
I agree, I think we’re in for a helluva ride. :-( It’s distressing to know that there’s even one case of COVID-19 on Lopez. We just found out this morning that there’s one case in the county here, too.
Thanks so much for sending the wonderful list of resources, Sheila. Big hugs to you and Bruce—I think we’re safe from this distance! We can’t wait till the time comes that we’re playing music together and enjoying summer on Lopez. Stay well!
Oh, I loved this post filled with past, present and future. Your Winter Formal dress is almost identical to the one I wore….we must be the same age!
It must have been so hard to deal with the stuff of a lifetime, charged with emotion. I imagine, though, that after awhile it was all about “getting the job done”! And now, there you sit. The picture of their yard is beautiful and serene. I hope you’ve been able to relax about that situation now that the “job is done”. Loved the childhood pictures and your gorgeous parents photos.
I understand just what you meant when you told us how hard it was to have to let those carefully curated plans go. I had to cancel some of our coveted reservations also, ones that were hard won. Sigh.
Tomorrow is another day, a better one I hope. (and I use “tomorrow” figuratively not literally of course!)
Take care of each other and savor the moments you have together.
Thank you for your loving comment, Sue. It was really hard taking apart my parents’ lives. As you said, the journey brought up so many emotions for me. It made me happy to see the joy with which my parents embraced life…and it’s in such stark contrast to the challenges of this past year.
How fun that we had the same formals! My mom made mine…she was a talented seamstress and made all of our clothing. I loved that dress with the tiers of lace and the midnight blue velvet ribbon. :-)
So a big YES to savoring our lives and our moments together now! You guys take good care. At this point, we’re thinking we’ll just save the travels we had planned for this spring for next year. Let’s hope we can get rolling by summer, though!
St George Island St Park Campground is one of our favorites. Love the bike trail into town, shopping at Piggly Wiggly and fresh seafood from trailer vendor. Lets hope this abates sooner than later.
I attend an auction often and see prized personal possessions of people whom have passed and their kids do not want or need their stuff. For this reason my wife and I try not to collect stuff that we can’t use.
Stay healthy.
Regis and Cindy of Floral City Fl. and our Airstream, Shiny Dancer
Hi Laurel,
It sounds like you have been on an emotional roller coaster as you work through all the things in your parents home. Having done that already, I totally feel your pain but when it is all done, it feels good to be able to close that chapter in life.
SO glad you and Eric are safe and healthy in Apalachicola. What a pretty place too be hunkered down right now. Who knows where we will all end up this summer!
Hugs!!
It has been a crazy emotional roller coaster ride, Brenda. I know you understand. It’s such a relief to finish the enormous project here, and it also feels so strange to be staying put now, without knowing when we’ll be able to leave.
But we are SO grateful to have this beautiful place to call home, for however long we need to be here. Hugs to you, too!
Regis, we feel the same way about St. George Island! It’s so much fun to bike the trail into town, and we love the little yellow seafood truck. The beach is off-limits right now, so we’re missing it. :-(
We’re committed to passing along stuff that we don’t need or use, too. I wish my parents hadn’t left it all for us to deal with…I know they didn’t mean to, but wow, it was a big job. You two stay healthy, and when the coast is clear, it would be fun to meet up!
I loved reading every single word. Knowing where you two have been, where you are today…what a beautiful location to be stuck in. It’s possible your January arrival to take care of your parents life is a blessing keeping you clear of those who might have been infected by or are carriers of Covid-19.
Fingers crossed and away from the face…
Love, your emergency date,
Cousin Kyle
Oh, Kyle!! You are the best. :-) You were an excellent date for the Winter Formal and always a wonderful cousin. I’ve been through so many photos the past couple of months that brought back such great memories of the years we shared growing up. I’d love to look at those with you sometime.
We’re feeling so lucky to be here in Apalachicola during this uncertain time. Stay safe in Miami…big hugs to you! OXOX
Thank you for writing this. Its been a lot of hard work to clear out your parents home; but you did it responsibly, so there is pride to be had. Our travel plans too have been curtailed so I am trying to focus on what I can do: garden, make masks, get my 21 year old through his college engineering classes that should be “hands on” but are not, stay healthy. Please continue to share your beautiful photos and stories with us. Maybe some bird photos? Love the garden with chairs, awaiting an end to social isolation ❤️
It sounds like you’re using your time well, Pam. I’m still in recovery from the enormous work of the past two months, followed by the shock of the pandemic. I’m slowly finding my way.
Thanks for requesting more photos and stories! I told Eric today you would like some bird photos. He is happy to oblige. :-) And I love your vision of the chairs in the garden waiting for our social isolation to end. I’m glad to hear from you.
I understand what you’ve been through. My sister and I have moved my folks from a large house in California to a retirement home and then to another retirement home. It was an ordeal. Your photos of the abundance of your folks home was actually less then in my folks home!
The best to you and Eric during these trying times. At least you have a nice place to shelter in place with great seafood. :-)
Thalia
Thalia, your description of the outrageous amount of stuff in my parents’ home as ‘abundance’ is such a positive way of looking at it! I can’t imagine what you went through in moving your parents twice, with even more stuff than my parents had.
Thanks so much for your good wishes. It is beautiful here, and we’re definitely enjoying the fabulous seafood. Hugs to you and Raul!
Wonderful post! thx for sharing :)
Thanks, Terri. I hope you’re doing well!
Thanks for the morning smile and with oh so many themes here. I’ll just stick with the ‘Oh the Places you Won’t Go’ and those hard fought reservations! Stay healthy and you haven’t changed a bit — just as adorable then as now 😘
I’m so glad to hear from you, Leah! I was wondering how you two are faring, and wondering where you are now. You are so sweet…I looked at some of those photos and thought, “Whoa, my haircut now kinda looks like the haircut I had when I was four years old” LOL.
Sigh…so many places we won’t be going this spring. Dammit. But feeling pretty lucky to be where we are at the moment. Take good care!
Your pictures are wonderful and your parents look like a lot of fun. I could have hung out with them. You look so much like my sister Sandy in your formal picture. I had to do a double take.
Debbie, my parents were SO much fun. They made the most of life all along the way. They were good role models. :-)
I hope you like your sister, LOL.
Like you, we were planning to head out on April 1st for our 2-month road trip. It’s such a shame to see all those cancellations for campgrounds and parks, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. If we were still allowed to travel, I would have had to make a hard decision. Should we stay or should we go? Truthfully, it wouldn’t be hard. We wouldn’t want to leave my 86-year-old mother alone in the house that we all share. She would be so terribly bored and lonely without our companionship. And if she were to contract COVID, we wouldn’t be with her to navigate those scary waters. So we are here, in a gorgeous gated community on the Oregon Coast, keeping ourselves entertained with puzzles, games (we love Quiddler, Chronology, Qwirkle and Trivial Pursuit), tv series and movies, reading, long walks along the ocean path and keeping in touch with family and friends via FaceTime and Zoom. It could be MUCH worse. I also have a freezer, pantry and refrigerator packed with food since we were gearing up for our travels. Lots of meals that I prepared ahead of time (and froze) will help if we continue to stay clear of the grocery stores unless absolutely necessary. This will provide me with plenty of time to get back to my travel blogging. :) Stay well. Wash your hands. Enjoy a glass of wine! Cheers!
Les, it sounds like you’re in a really good place to ride out this uncertain time. And how wonderful that you’re able to be with your mother. It sounds like you’re enjoying your time at home together. We’ve been playing some games too, and found a Trivial Pursuit when we were rooting out the closets at my folks’ home. It makes me feel dumb…who knows the answers to most of those questions?? Not me, haha!
This is going to give me plenty of time to get caught up on our blog, too. The bright side is that I get to relive last summer’s adventures. :-)
I love your beautiful and thoughtful reflections on the archaeology dig, and the good memories from your parents’ lives that this project brought to the surface. Of course, it’s probably a lot easier to be philosophical about the process when it’s FINALLY OVER instead of ongoing. It’s too bad you donated all that fishing gear, because it’s a near certainty that we will have to take up that activity while staying at home here for an undetermined period of time. :-)
I hope that losing those coveted reservations and plans is a bit easier for you from the comfort of relatively familiar territory. We are of course very glad that you are in a safe spot, and even more glad that it is a spot near us.
Shannon, I was just telling Eric last week that it was a big mistake to get rid of that fishing gear! And the crab traps, and crab cooker, and other things that we could be using during this time. :-(
It’s such a relief to be finished with the archeology dig. You’re right, I wasn’t always quite so philosophical during the process when I was buried up to my neck in my folks’ belongings, LOL. I’m still trying to adjust to not blasting out of here on our spring and summer adventures. But as you said, we are very grateful to be in a safe, familiar place. And we’re really happy that you guys are here, too! We’re looking forward to more kayaking adventures with you.
Lives well lived are worth sharing. We all need to take comfort from the fact we are all in this together. Thanks for sharing what is going on at the “forgotten” coast. It does look peaceful there. We are sheltering in place in Seattle – all healthy so far. To travel is to live life fully and though we can’t today, when we can we’ll appreciate it that much more. I miss our rendezvous at Spencer Spit State Park! Enjoyed the posts on Nova Scotia. Could go for a kitchen party right now, but alas ….
Wayne and Karen
Wayne, it’s so good to hear from you! You’re right, we can take comfort in knowing that we’re all in this together. And we can help keep each other’s spirits up in this time of great unknown.
We’re so glad to know that you and Karen are healthy and safe in Seattle. I was looking at photos of Lopez Island yesterday and reminiscing about all of the wonderful times we’ve had there. It’s going to be a fabulous reunion when we all return! So glad you enjoyed the posts on Nova Scotia. I have lots more in the works, and the time to do them, haha.
Laurel and Eric- So good to hear from you and the adventures of going through so many years of stuff and memories. I’m a little behind, are your parents both in a retirement home now?
We go on daily walks to help resist the torpor of the Quarantine. Occasional trips for groceries are about it. Plenty of time to work on music and art, and collaborate with a few folks via online apps. Also online Yoga via Zoom! Looks like a beautiful part of the country for you to enjoy for awhile. Stay safe and steady and we’ll see you up along the road a piece. Love, Tom & Georgina
Hi Tom & Georgina, so good to hear from you. I was imagining that you’re filling your time with music and art. That’s my plan, too, so thanks for the inspiration! We’re glad to hear that you’re doing well during these unsettled times.
My folks have been in an assisted living/memory care facility near my sister in Jacksonville since last August. We cleaned out their home with the intention of putting it on the market…but obviously, that isn’t happening right now. So, here we are in Apalachicola for who knows how long? It is beautiful, and we’re grateful for a safe place to be. Love to you both!
A wonderful post…you said what we all feel. Ready to hit the road…but here we sit as well. Masters is postponed, all state parks closed here. The price of gas crazy and here we sit. No plans in place until this is over.. thank GOD we are not on the road, not sure what we would have done.
Hunker down, photograph the fun finds in our yard and give gratitude we are healthy….this too shall pass…
Julie, we’re so glad to hear that you and Martin are safe at home right now. Given that you spend so much time traveling internationally, you could have been very far away! You certainly have a beautiful place to be, and your positive attitude of enjoying the finds in your own backyard is a good reminder for all of us.
Take good care, and we hope to see you when the dust settles!
As crazy as this has all been, there are certainly things to be thankful for. You’re in a beautiful, safe, relaxing spot in a familiar town AND the house is all cleaned out. Can you imagine if this pandemic had started right when you got there? How much harder it would have been to clean everything out when donation spots were closed and you couldn’t bring people into the house to fix things? What a nightmare. Fortunately, you guys worked like mad and got things cleaned out in the nick of time. Your timing was truly perfect!
Speaking of things to be thankful for, I keep thinking about how much more we’re all going to appreciate our ability to travel, and spend time with friends, and eat, and drink, and listen to music…and all of it, when this is all over. Freedom will be so, so sweet. Seeing the pictures of your parents in their younger years, finding so much joy in life, is such a great reminder of exactly how we should all be living. When this is all in the rear view mirror, I expect there are going to be a lot of people with a whole new zest for life.
Stay well, friends.
Laura, I never thought about how truly awful it would have been to be stuck cleaning out this house during the shutdown. We couldn’t have done it. And we would be living in an enormous, depressing mess. Now I’m even MORE grateful that we got it all cleaned out and can enjoy living in a nice house on a beautiful piece of property while we ride out this crazy time.
As you said, it’s going to be one heck of a celebration when life returns to some semblance of normal. I’m looking forward to when this is all behind us—and meanwhile, trying to make the most of the strange reality that we are living in now. It helps that we’re all supporting and encouraging each other. Hugs to you three.
Eric and Laurel,
To think we were but a few days of being quarantined with you guys. Would have been a great time! The cooking that would have gone on! The birding, games, laughter and a sweet time. Not to mention, a lovely place to social distance. We enjoyed your blog and pictures. Just feeling stuck up here in Mid-Ohio….however, finally the sun is out and temps are hitting the 60’s. The three of us, thinking of you often. Be Well.
Diana and Ed and latte
Diana & Ed, we would have had a blast being quarantined together!! It’s so wild to think that we were only a week away from that happening. You are the reason that we kept the living room and guest room furniture…so thanks for that. We were going to give it away the day after you left. So that worked out really well!
We missed our time with you and missed meeting your new kitty. :-( That just means we need to reschedule. How about next year, same time, and with the way things are going, same place? You three take good care of one other.
Laurel, “tossed into the sea of uncertainty” ~ this brilliantly sums it up. For all of us. At the same time. Everywhere. We can’t think of any event in history that illustrates the commonality of crisis and grief and system readiness and personal hardship in the most global way that COVID19 has delivered.
First we have to deal with this societal challenge and then there will be whatever lies on the other side. The silver lining is perhaps that the planet and the wildlife are getting an opportunity to revitalize themselves. Much needed. In the absence of human disruption and activity.
It says so much for how you went about the task of the “archeological dig” of processing and sorting through your parent’s house, given that it took you two months of devoted time. Of course if one tosses everything to the garbage heap or as your sister jokingly suggested, burning the house down, then it’s much easier. But clearly you lovingly sorted through it to repurpose it and give continuity to your parent’s collection of possessions and memories.
Love your matter of fact introduction about the plans that instantly evaporated. An enjoyable read of an extraordinarily challenging time!
Peta & Ben
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Peta. Although it was difficult and exhausting to spend two months immersed in sorting through and dealing with my parents’ lifetime accumulation, we feel really good about all of the people in the community now benefitting from their possessions. I know it would make my mom and dad happy, too.
Your thoughts about the current crisis, and how this temporary hiatus from ‘normal’ life is giving the planet and wildlife an opportunity for renewal mirrors exactly the conversations that Eric and I have had. These are challenging times, and I hope we emerge collectively with more compassion and wisdom. Stay well, both of you.
Stay hunkered down for a while. We had an epic trip from Southern CA to Montesano, WA and are hunkered down here until we make the next move in our lives.
Stay well.
All our best,
R&K
Wow, you guys…that must have been some trip. So glad you’re safely at your place in Washington now. Take good care, stay well, and we hope to see you somewhere when we’re all free! Hugs to you both.
Boy, the timing sure was fortuitous for you two to have a house to stay in right now! And in a beautiful setting as well! Every day I thank my lucky stars that we are now in a house instead of trying to find places to to stay in the RV.
Hugs to you both.
Lisa, we feel so incredibly fortunate that we were here when everything started to unravel. We’re happy to have a home (cleaned out!) and a big piece of property to roam around on. We have plenty to keep us occupied. I’m sure you are thanking your lucky stars to not be on the road and to be in your beautiful home. And I’m betting you have lots of gardening projects planned to nourish your spirit! Big hugs to you and Hans and Rosie. :-)
What a great post Laurel! Love the little slide shows and the beautiful artistic photographs of the area around you. It is amazing what you and Eric did there. Hope you are relaxing and enjoying the time when you don’t have to do anything because you can’t. You’ve done such a perfect job of expressing how I feel about life as it is now that I don’t think I’ll bother to do a post. I’ll just put a link to yours. Stay safe! Stay well my friends!
Thanks, Sherry…we worked hard! And now that we’re stranded here for who knows how long, we’re finding more projects to do. :-( Everything is in such turmoil right now, I’m trying to find peace in the middle of it and to keep moving forward. Mostly, I still feel stunned…so I just keep looking for projects or sit staring off into space. Take good care, and stay healthy! Sending you a hug.
Clearly your reward for all the hard and emotional work of clearing out the house is now having that house to protect you for as long as you need. That backyard is beautiful and looks very tranquil. Something we can all appreciate even more these days. I’m just so glad you aren’t at the mercy of closing campgrounds and limited pantry space!
Having purged five different homes of loved ones, I can sure relate to your experiences. So fun to find photo treasures – the terrified siblings is hysterical – and so daunting to make decisions about someone else’s lifetime memories!
It’s going to be weird for so many of us staying put as the temps rise this year. I suppose it will remind us how fortunate we are to be mobile in our “real” life. I’m already preparing our route for next Spring and hoping to get to those places we had to cancel.
Hugs!
Oh Jodee, I like your image of the house protecting us! The house and property feel like a wonderful haven since we cleaned it all up. So even though we’re disappointed about not being able to continue our travels at the moment, we’re very grateful to be here.
I cannot imagine going through this kind of clean-up EVER again. How in the world did you manage to motivate yourself to do it five times? I think after this one experience I would take my sister’s advice and just set fire to it, LOL.
We’re hoping to do the trip next spring that we had planned for this spring. The good part is that it’s all planned out…the not so good part is having to go through the reservations ordeal again. Ugh.
Aw, Laurel, that was a special post. My first reaction was that you were SO LUCKY with the timing of cleaning out your parent’s home. Can you imagine if you were just starting that now? You’d have no option to repurpose anything and all would have had to be junked. That would have been incredibly painful! And then to end up now during this pandemic with a comfortable place to ride it out in such beautiful surroundings.
Thanks for the beautiful and sentimental photos as always. They are a treasure even for folks who never knew your parents.
The streets in Ashland are so quiet. OSF shut down in mid-March and won’t open until after Labor Day. I expect to see many failing businesses in the next few months. So sad. We have several cases here in the county and Oregon has been hit pretty hard overall.
I thought of you both yesterday as my daughter (home from UO for a couple weeks) and I took the dog for a walk through Emigrant Lake campground (closed of course). I missed your company and your expert birding eyes!
Take care and be well!
Janet
I’m so happy to hear from you, Janet, and for your update on Ashland. I can only imagine how strange it is with the streets empty of locals and tourists, and the festival shut down. :-( It makes me sad thinking of the effects that this will have on all of the small businesses and our sweet hometown.
Oh, how we would have loved walking with you around Emigrant Lake, enjoying your company and looking for birds! You must love having your daughter home for a bit, even though it’s not under the best of circumstances. Take good care, and thanks for your kind words. I’m looking forward to when we’ll see you again.
Dear Laurel & Eric,
Congratulations on your thorough home harmonizing! Speaking as a professional in the field (or at least I was. I’ve hardly worked with clients since my mother’s decline and death last year) you’ve done an incredible job and it will change how you move forward in life – once we are able to move freely again….! I went to Palm Springs last month to meet my brothers and finish going through our mom’s stuff since the house sold. We got the car sold but we all went home early once restrictions started being implemented. I’m here in Ashland now and my cosmic twin, Patience, has come to stay with me for a while which has been so good for us both. We had dinner last night with Winn which boosted all our hearts. Anyway, please know I am sending you a big embrace and look forward to when our paths will cross once again….. Be awesomely good to yourselves! With much love, xoxo Dia
Oh, dearest Dia! I’ve thought of you so often, and I’m glad to know you’re safely in Ashland surrounded by good friends. Thank you so much for your encouragement…we worked hard on my folks’ home and property, and I’m happy to know that you approve of our ‘home harmonizing’ efforts. I take that as a high compliment, coming from you as an expert. :-)
I know you’ve been on your own challenging journey the past year or so with your mother’s decline and passing. I’d love to talk with you soon and catch up. Sending so much love to you from both of us!
You were right, I needed to look at the pictures again! Your parents had such a fun life. Your mom is quite beautiful, especially the costume party picture. I see there is little of anything purple in her closet — did she not favor it, or did you requisition everything purple? The yard there is loveliness. I wish we’d been able to make it there and be close enough to socially distance from you. Please watch for gators!
Joodie, we wish you two were here, too, and we could have a ‘quarantine compound.’ Wouldn’t that be fun?? We have plenty of space here for social distancing. Although you might hate it once summer arrives.
My folks had so danged much fun in their lives. Not so much now, which makes me sad, but looking back through their thousands of photos makes me happy. Your observation about ‘nothing purple’ in my mom’s closet is accurate. I’m not sure where I got that gene, LOL.
It certainly is a time we will never forget. So glad you have a beautiful safe place to wait out this pandemic. Your timing was pretty perfect with not selling yet! Lucky, lucky you. Sweet that you have room to keep your trailer at your folks house. You certainly have a special backyard on the water. Eric has been sharing some lovely photos. I can only imagine the chore of cleaning out a place that your parents lived for so long. We had trouble cleaning out our house after 25 years before fulltiming. It takes forever when you start going through photos and memory boxes. You found some great photos! So glad you shared a few. I enjoyed the peak into your past. But I like your sister’s #1 idea!! I am sure you visited doing that several times as you were cleaning. So glad that task is behind you. Hang in there!! We WILL get through this. I am still holding on to all our reservation since we don’t need to be in Eugene until after Memorial Day for our MH check up. I am soooo hoping we can head out. We won’t be with others when we travel so heading out doesn’t bother me. But if we should get sick, we will be in some remote areas. So that may stop us. We’ll see!
Pam, you’re right, this is definitely a time that we will never forget. I’m still trying to adjust to this new reality. It’s so darned weird!!
I like your positive attitude about holding onto your reservations for summer. We haven’t canceled our reservations for Michigan, either, in hopes that we might be able to make that trip this summer. Although I’m grateful that we have my folks’ home as a safe and beautiful place to be right now, I’m not looking forward to summer here.
I found lots of wonderful photos sorting through the thousands of images that my folks had stashed in giant boxes. I still have more to sort through. And I should have the time to do it!!
It is nice that you have time now to really browse the old photos. How are your parents doing? Has dad settled yet or is he still needing to call you? I’m sure it is hard that you can’t visit. This must be even more upsetting to your dad. I forgot to mention how lovely the photos are in the blog especially that header!
Oh Pam, thank you for asking about my folks. They don’t understand about the pandemic at all, and it’s especially upsetting for my dad. I’m trying to arrange for video calls so that we can at least see each other. I had the devastating thought this morning of “What if I never see them again?” It just makes me so sad. I hope your mom is doing okay. Such hard times. OXOX
I think you will cherish the time you spent going through your parents lives as time goes on. It may have seemed difficult but the memories will be with you for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing your journey. What a wonderful way to begin the rest of your life – not to mention the wonderful setting to start it!
I appreciate your kind comment, Roger. I think you’re right, although it was a long and difficult process, I’m really glad that we took the time to carefully go through all of my parents’ possessions, especially the photos. It gave me the opportunity to relive a lot of wonderful memories. And seeing so many photos of my folks when they were younger was so much fun! It reminds me of just how much they enjoyed their lives. :-)
Laurel, I’m so glad that you’ve been able to complete the loving yet arduous task of preparing your parent’s home for sale. How wonderful that you were able to find ways to contribute to others, instead of having to add to landfills.
As you are ‘stuck’ in Apalachicola, we are still here in Cedar Key during this strange new time we are all living. While we look forward to being back home in Michigan eventually, we can’t think of a better place to be ‘stuck’, as CK closed off the island on March 24. We get in long walks each morning for exercise, and can sit on our balcony, breathing fresh air and watching dolphins, to keep nerves calmed. There are only two of we long-term snowbirds left in our 15-unit buildings, so we depend upon each other for company and shared necessities.
Once we feel a bit more comfortable with a downward curve in Michigan, we’ll depart, but being a very hard-hit state, we don’t anticipate heading that direction before early-mid May. Time will tell.
Be well.
I’m so glad to hear from you, Karen, and to know that you and Krash are in a good spot to ride out this uncertain time. As you said, Cedar Key is a beautiful place to be stuck. How wonderful to be where you can take long walks, breathe fresh air, and even enjoy watching the dolphins play. That’s a spirit lifter, for sure!
We’re still hoping that we might make it to Michigan in July for our summer adventures, but who knows? If so, it would be wonderful to see you two there. Meanwhile, take good care and enjoy the peace of Cedar Key.
Laurel and Eric,
Enjoyed this recent entry. I have been there and done that and now I realize that I now need to start helping my children by cleaning out our home.
The pictures were wonderful and your comments were touching. Whoops, touching isn’t in our “six feet social distance”vocabulary !
Stay safe,
Carol Jonson
We’re delighted to hear from you, Carol! I’m glad you enjoyed the post…it sounds as though you understand exactly what we’ve been through in cleaning out my folks’ home. I’m glad we cleaned out our own home before we took off on this fulltime traveling life. Of course, there’s the matter of a small storage unit back in Ashland, LOL.
Sending hugs from a safe distance! :-)
Love the public announcement with a cute demo :)
Haha!!! Thanks, ML! Big hugs to you two!