I moved into this building at 30 Avalon Place eight years ago to be near my mother. She lived, prior to going to the nursing home three years ago, just down the hall from me. I remember walking up the stairs one day after signing the deal on this place and feeling sick at the thought of living here. I really hadn’t ever lived in an apartment building before, always a house, with a back yard and all. But I did want Mom to be able to stay in her own place for as long as possible. And I did that.
Though I have never liked the building as a whole, I have liked my bright and sunny unit and Mom’s unit overlooking the park where we would see deer and glorious sunsets. For the first seven years the traffic noise from the expressway in front of my place was a problem. But last year they finished the sound barrier so that has improved significantly though traffic is always the background accompaniment.
So with Mom no longer here and a sound barrier making the place for sale-able, I decided it was time to get out. Next weekend I will be moving to Bloomingdale.
I hate moving, quite frankly. But I don’t want to be here any longer.
I’m going to miss the neighbourhood. The parks with their woods and pond and assorted wildlife, the walk to Simon & Christine’s house, Myron next door, Cheryl and Karl both within walking distance. But I will gain an almost rural living again. I will be a short walk from the Grand River and it’s trails. I will be further from work but closer to church. Perhaps I’ll be able to have a garden again. Always in life there are pros and cons. You take your pick and live with the consequences.
And so I am grateful for the opportunity to move, in a sense, to start over once again. God is with me.