Good-bye is never easy. The good-bye that led us to Florida was harder than most.
My husband, Mark, and I have a blended family. We each have two children from a previous marriage, and we have a daughter together. When my husband was first approached with an amazing career opportunity that required an out-of-state move, he declined because living so far away from his older two daughters was unthinkable. With five children to support and an uncertain situation at his workplace, though, he continued to ponder the job offer and ultimately inquired several months later if it was still available.
When our youngest child was less than week old, my husband accepted his new position with the understanding that we would eventually move to South Florida. He commuted to Palm Beach for a while, but two years ago we put our house in Georgia on the market. We had a beautiful home that we loved, but we knew that being in a rural area meant that we could wait months to find the right buyer if we found a buyer at all. We stuck the for sale sign in the yard thinking that we might have to live apart while my husband commuted to Florida and I stayed in Georgia with the children. Instead our house sold in less than 48 hours, and our lives turned upside down.
Two years ago this week, my husband and I drove to Florida with our infant daughter to begin house hunting. My husband’s boss recommended Wellington to us for its great schools and family-friendly atmosphere, but I could not have had a worse first impression. I cried many times during that house-hunting trip. I had never been in a gated community in my life, and I was put off by the fact that I couldn’t just drive by a house and check it out before I made an appointment to see it with a realtor. I was definitely not in love with the lot sizes. Our home in Georgia had an acre of land! When I found out that I couldn’t order sweet tea in most of the restaurants here, I almost called the whole deal off.
As we approach our second anniversary of living in Florida, I am so glad I didn’t let my first impression discourage me too much. Yes it’s difficult emotionally and logistically to live so far from my step-daughters and the rest of our families, but at least we live in a place where people enjoy visiting us. While the gated communities are still a bit of a foreign concept to me, now that I’m not in the market for a home I’m not annoyed that I can’t drive past houses to check them out.
What I have discovered in Wellington is so much more. Instead of a big yard, we have the beach nearby, and our community has amazing parks. I love having my choice of parks and playgrounds with different amenities and recreational activities to enjoy with my family. I even love having sidewalks and bike lanes so I can get to those parks. Perhaps if you’re a lifelong Floridian, you take parks and sidewalks for granted, but I don’t. They are luxuries to me, and I take advantage of them as much as possible. I love the weather here. Yes I know it’s hot, but it’s hot almost everywhere in our country right now, so why not take the heat in the summer along with warm, beautiful winters? Finally, I love the lifestyle that the warm climate allows. The ability to enjoy the outdoors year round is a definite plus in my book.
I never imagined that I would say this, but Wellington is now my home and my favorite place I have ever lived. The good-bye that we had to say to my step-daughters when we moved was sad, but our move turned into an opportunity for longer visits and better quality time with them. Our good-byes are never for long, and we are making it work. I’ve even started drinking unsweet tea (and I almost like it!).
