Empty Nests are Glorious!
August 29th, 2008 categories: Lifestyle
An empty nest can filled with glorious golden moments. No wakeful nights waiting up for the car to come home, the ability to have scrambled eggs or a bowl of soup for dinner if you want. What a relief–they are all gone–finally! When our last son left for college, my husband, Jim, and I sat around and listened to the clocks tick for a few weeks. We were living in Beverly, a lovely suburban-like neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, in a four-bedroom, three-story plus attic home. It was great for a family of four sons–we all enjoyed it a lot. And when it was over, it was over. We have never looked back. Our first move was to a large old co-operative apartment that needed a total renovation–it was fun and we loved the space and the neighborhoods, Lincoln Park. And then our sons were beginning to be married and to establish careers in other cites so it was time to move. We moved into a rental condo in Streeterville, a very crowded, urban neighborhood just east of Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue shopping area, and after a year or so, bought a home in the same building. This has also worked well for us.
Probably the best part of moving in from a suburban area is the availability of restaurants, movies, theaters, shopping of all sorts. A car is not even a necessity unless you commute by car to work. It is different and much more adult than the child centered lives we all led before and if you MUST have a place to grow things in the summer–buy a condo with a balcony or a townhouse with a small yard! We have loved living in the center of activity–sure the fire engine and ambulance sirens can be annoying–after the first month or so you (at least we) don’t even hear them. It is exciting, interesting and absolute bushels of fun! The availability of restaurants, movies, theatres, museums–everything is right at your fingertips and frequently within walking distance!
Deciding if you want to sell your present home or not is the first step. Deciding where you want to live is the next step in the process. There are soooo many wonderful neighborhoods in Chicago! Many people like to rent a place for a year or so to try out the idea of living downtown, and to try out a neighborhood and just generally becoming acquainted with the lifestyle–trying it on for size. That is a very good beginning. One of my blog posts is called SOS! Real Estate Info Help. Click on Ruth Karel to read the post and do feel free to call me at 312-981-2360 if you have questions.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I like how you keep updating your blog, it is much easier to use a Wordpress blog than to use a Blogger.
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