Prelude

My wife Shelly and I have wanted to live in the country for a long time. The plan was to move when both kids were out of the house. Our daughter had four high risk pregnancies in a row, Shelly’s mother was diagnosed with several chronic diseases, and my brother died. All of these events in our lives focused our attention on our family rather than looking for a house in the country. Our daughter decided to stop at four (it was possible she could not carry any more to term) and after a brave struggle Shelly’s beloved mother died peacefully in her home surrounded by all of her grown children. After a year as executor of my brother’s estate I was finally able to close it. We decided to get serious about the house hunt and found a enthusiastic (and very patient) realtor to help us. After looking for over a year in a specific part of the state that would put us closer to our kids and grand kids, we ended up walking around a property surrounded by trees and crops, with a two bedroom bungalow house, large garage, machine shed, another outbuilding and a grain bin. It was a windy day in May, 2018. Shelly asked if this was the one. I said I didn’t see why not. We laughed and hugged, relieved that the search was over and excited to begin this next chapter in our lives.