Last May, my parents, out of the blue, announced that they would be selling my childhood home in Baraboo, WI. Well, I guess not completely out of the blue, but earlier than expected. After snowbirding between Wisconsin and Florida for years, they found the perfect senior living community in Naples and decided to move there permanently. Panic set in.
To say 2024 was a rollercoaster of emotions is an understatement. Was one of them sick? Would we see them regularly anymore? Besides The Boy and my kids, I’d be pretty much alone. Feelings of abandonment set in.
I felt like I was being ripped away from friends — people I’ve known since elementary school. Ya, we could book an Airbnb for a weekend, but what about the dog? Would we do that ten times a year? Probably not. I like to bebop up there for the day, visit my high school friends, and have dinner at my favorite restaurants. We take the kids skiing, hiking at Devil’s Lake, or visiting a waterpark in Wisconsin Dells.
