MARCH 2025 BLOG – THE MOVE IS ON

You wonder why you have so much stuff when you start packing to move. Why didn’t we get rid of that useless piece of… the last time we moved, just eight years ago? I guess we just weren’t ready to part with some precious objects. In the past, we inherited some things from my parents when they left this world. Some of their stuff was passed on to them from parents and other relatives before they got to us.

As some of you know, we are moving to Long Island, New York, to a 55+ community called Pinewood Estates in Middle Island. The town derives its name from its location between the north and south shores and has a population of a little over 11,000. It is about 2 hours to Manhattan.

For the past week, we spent time with family and friends in Long Island and New Jersey. We apologize if you haven’t seen us; our days have been filled. We promise to contact you when we move in and unpack our belongings.

This week, we discovered that we love being back here. It’s still home, and it feels very comfortable to us. You can live in many places, but it won’t take the New Yorker out of you—it hasn’t for us. Our old friends and relatives have embraced and shown us so much love.

The food choices here are unlimited. Of course, pizza is my number one choice. I’ve sampled thick slices of Sicilian pizza, thin slices of New York pizza, and a new one to me called Grandma Pizza. They put down cheese, then blotches of tomato sauce are dropped on top, along with fresh basil. I have to admit it is pretty tasty.

Around here, all-you-can-eat sushi joints are popular. We’ve had our fair share. We celebrated our Grandson Alex’s thirtieth birthday on Saturday with a trip to Top Golf, followed by dinner at a Dumpling and Wok restaurant. The drinks were exotic, and the dumplings and stir-fried dishes melted in our mouths and were delicious.

We were here for St Patty’s Day, too, and for the first time in many years, we had corned beef, cabbage, and Irish coffee in a real Irish Pub. I can keep gushing about food, but I want to tell you about our future home. See the pictures displayed. Two photographs are in the model and show what our kitchen will look like; the other photo shows the front door to our apartment, #174, in the middle.

The apartment has two bedrooms and two full baths. We’ve taken advantage of their special sale and received a reduction in the rent, which includes having to pay only half a month's security. Additionally, they are renovating it with new flooring and countertops. We can’t wait to see it when we move in at the end of May because it is a wooded area that should be brilliantly green by then.

We found a good pizza place less than five minutes away. There are plenty of places to go grocery shopping and many different types of restaurants to eat. Better healthcare is one of our concerns and motivation to move. We have already been to see our new primary care physician, and I’m seeing a neurosurgeon this week. The area has several extensive healthcare facilities: Catholic Health, Northwell Health, Stony Brook University Hospital, NYU Langone Health, and Sloan Kettering. So we feel more secure about our future health needs.

Our movers are coming on May 16, so we still have a lot of packing to do before that date. Our daughter Deb will come to Santa Fe before the movers to help us wrap up packing. Then, we will drive to New York in my Toyota 4-Runner.

I’ll try to post another blog before we move.