hubby and I are planning to go into Assisted Living.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

129. Good for you. This is a difficult transition.

A few comments.

One huge problem is that too many people live in a place for a really long time. 30 years in your case. Even longer for others. When you stay put like that, you just don't get rid of things. I know. I've been there. For the first ten years of my marriage we moved just about every two years. Which meant we culled stuff quite regularly. Then we stayed put for 18 years. Well, 18 years for me. We divorced and I moved some 800 miles away. I packed up what I wanted, left everything else behind. My now ex moved into that house with his new wife (the woman he'd left me for) and they've been there another 9 years. We're on decent terms, and recently I asked him if he'd considered downsizing, and he said, Absolutely Not! Personally, I think he's foolish, since they don't need a place half that size, and I know that he's something of a hoarder. Oh, well, it won't affect me.

Anyway, most people cling to material things years and years after they should be willing to give them up. And they stay in homes far larger than they need. Which typically means they're paying for those places, when that money would be best spent elsewhere.

I'm currently in a small enough place, about 900 square feet, that I can't accumulate too much stuff, which is a huge help. I may well stay here more or less the rest of my life, but I'm more than open to independent/assisted living some time in the future. I'll turn 69 on Wednesday and I'm in astonishingly good health. Even if that good health endures, I'm not entirely crazy about the burdens of home ownership. As noted, my place isn't very large, but I'm still responsible. Last summer I re-landscaped my back yard, and this year I hope to get the front done. The point of the new landscape is to make the yards more usable for me. Hopefully, when it needs to be sold, it will sell much more quickly, thanks to the landscaping.

Everyone I've ever known who has gone into independent/assisted living has been very happy. Invariably they say they should have done it sooner. At my age I keep on giving this serious thought. Unfortunately, since I live in Santa Fe, NM, such places are quite pricey, and I'm not yet ready or willing to relocate. Recently my son has started a PhD program in astrophysics on the East Coast (at George Mason University) and perhaps when he's done with that and settled, I'll move to be closer to him. But that's at least five or six years in the future, and meanwhile I really do love my life here in Santa Fe.

Do not think of this as a lessening of your life, but simply as a new stage. And keep us informed as to how it's going.