Resizing for My New Life!
Apartment 3B is Perfect for Me!
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 8 seconds
“Wow, your apartment looks so nice,” said Mike as he walked into my new home.
I had not had visitors to my home except when Nick visited me. It was lovely to have my family visiting for a family birthday celebration.
“It is so light and airy. Everything looks like it fits perfectly,” said Elyssa, my daughter-in-law.
I nodded in agreement.
I know you and Mom had to let go of a lot of furniture when you moved, and it looks like you had to allow even more go this time. But you have made this feel like a home.”
Standing before the ceremonial shovel, Nick and I mentioned that a TaskRabbit person had installed it and the photos.
“Hugo and Ana helped me determine what I could keep and helped me find a new home for items I no longer needed,” I explained as my lips began to shake.
“It looks so lovely you could rent it as an AIRBNB.”
I laughed.
“I need a place to live that meets my needs and keeps your mom’s spirit and love with me.”
As we had dinner, I remembered when Jan and I moved to Cranford in May 2018, we expected to live here for two years and then buy a condo.
Our plans did not work out, but moving from a three-bedroom ranch to a walkable downtown was more critical than we understood then.
If we had stayed where we lived, I am unsure how I would have survived without Jan. Overwhelmed and adrift, I would have been too attached to material things and lost like a kid in a candy store.
Instead, I am centered in overlapping communities where I can walk daily and live interdependently with my neighbors.
I will forever be grateful that Jan and I moved here, as living in supportive communities has been critical in managing my grief.
Jan’s love transformed me the day we met. Her love continues to shower me with her undying support and allows me to live fully, albeit alone, in Apartment 3B!
The Jan Lilien Education Fund sponsors ongoing sustainability and environmental awareness programs. Gifts made this month; I will match dollar-for-dollar. All donations are tax-deductible.
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Flowers Convert 3B Into a Home
