It Doesn’t Get Easier

I know they say time heals all wounds, but I will be honest it sure does not seem that way. I hurt as much today as I did the day she left and to be honest maybe even a little bit more. I am just so blessed to have a good support group of people who have helped me along.

Yesterday I was thinking about how we got here to Mesquite. It was pretty much by accident. When we retired we knew San Antonio or Texas for that matter was not going to be our final retirement destination. We wanted to ultimately be closer to Butte so we could spend the summers there and then be in a warmer climate in the winter. We drew a 12 hour driving circle around Butte and started looking at areas within that circle.

Then Jennifer and I had decided to take a trip to Vegas a few months after we retired. We were having a good time wandering up and down the strip. We were in the Flamingo Casino and I needed to use the restroom. So I was walking into one of the restrooms and I bumped into a guy who was walking out. It just so happens that the guy I bumped into was a guy from Butte. It was Dan Ferriter. Dan was a year behind Jennifer and I in high school. Now we had not talked to Dan for several years, we would occasionally see each other in passing in Butte, but never really talked.

Well Jennifer and I had a nice conversation with Dan that night in Vegas. He was living in Mesquite at the time and he told us about Mesquite and how nice it was and that we should check it out. So that is what put Mesquite on our radar. It took us a while to get here but we eventually did.

The Malody’s and us made a trip up here to check the area out in January 2018. We met up in Las Vegas and we toured some of Sun City Summerlin and met up with the Benner’s for a evening. We then drove up to Mesquite and toured Sun City Mesquite and then went on up to Zion National Park. It was a fun trip. Jennifer and Lorie were not too hip on Mesquite. I was ready to move here then.

We liked San Antonio all right, but after Marathon closed its office there, it changed for us, as most of the friends we had there moved away. This was especially true for Jennifer. Once the office was gone the majority of friends she had in town had moved.

In 2018 we had made a trip to Mesquite with our trailer and we spent 5 weeks here in November and December to get a better feel for the area. We then put the trailer in storage here in Mesquite and went to Montana for Christmas and then back to San Antonio. Then in the spring of 2019 we came and got the trailer out of storage and towed it up to Butte.

As I mentioned I was ready to move to Mesquite after our first visit here, but Jennifer did not share that same enthusiasm. After our 5 week stay she was slightly more enthusiastic but was not convinced. At the time she felt that the population of Mesquite was too old and we were too young to be here. This surprised and disappointed me. I thought she would have wanted to move, since Elaine and Jim were close by.

So back to San Antonio we went. Then 2020 came and so did Covid. I think that made Jennifer wanting to be closer to family. She started to loosen up and give Mesquite another look. In 2022 we finally pulled the trigger and ended up moving here in April.

The plans we had envisioned changed substantially (but that is a story for another day), but we got here and I have been blessed to have gotten to be friends with a very nice group of folks that have made living here very enjoyable.

It just really makes me sad that Jennifer is missing out on this. We both worked hard and saved to get to this point and we were so enjoying it, then the damn Cancer took it all away from us.

Well enough for today. I best get up and get moving. I have a busy day ahead. I am manning our Rotary book sale from 10-12 and then hosting Pickleball Round Robin this evening (provided the wind is not blowing too hard).