Report: I’ve moved successfully into our community’s newest senior facility: The Legacy Midpark! On my first day here, I made some new friends and re-met many old ones. There’s nothing quite like having your former life parade in front of you again!!
For those of you who know me, start laughing now. For those who don’t: I have no sense of direction AT ALL! It’s a recognized family trait: My mother was bad, I‘m worse, and my daughter, the worst of all, says, “This must be sex-linked. I have no daughters, just sons, and they don’t have these problems…”
Yesterday I drove back to my old home to gather more “stuff” for bringing home to the new one. Getting out of here — no problem! Getting back — don’t ask! Too many paths to choose from once I’d gotten into the right general area. Finally, like that great movie line, I “depended on the kindness of strangers” and followed a sympathetic truck driver who led me to The Legacy. Today, I will not drive at all…
I have the most wonderful apartment! It makes worthwhile all the fear, work, aggravation, fright, etc. that go with any big life change. I’m on the fifth floor of this eight-story building. I would have preferred higher up, but I signed up too late; smarter folks had already reserved them all. However, this is amazing enough! My desk now sits against a very large south-facing window, giving me a great view of a big chunk of Dallas — lots of greenery as well as brick-and-mortar. And I have a small balcony facing the same direction, where I can sit outside at sunset to watch the local world shut off its lights and go to sleep before I do the same. I have never been closer to the clouds and the birds! If I’d ever dreamed of anything like this, it would be my dream-come-true!
However, the physical adjustment is somewhat more difficult. I’m now trying to organize my clothes closet while leaving room in the coat closet for visitors to hang theirs. But I know all will fall into place soon enough, and my horizon is especially bright because I’ll be having my own first visitor very soon: Grandson Robert is coming from Illinois to spend some time on business in Dallas and with an old college friend who now lives in Frisco. I’ll have him join me here for lunch one day (both the surroundings and the food offer much more and better than my kitchen and dining room ever did!) and afterward, weather permitting, we’ll go to the Arboretum. My daughter — his mother — is a horticulturalist and master gardener who has a hard time leaving the place when she visits me; he’s a musician who I know will also appreciate — although much differently — all aspects of that glorious place.
We in Dallas are now so lucky to have The Legacy Midpark! On the day of its groundbreaking, I knew we would be ready on some future day for each other, and things have worked out exactly that way! I asked then to be put on the waiting list for the new facility, and I’ve learned since that my request was honored: I stayed at No. 1 for all the construction years! Since it took me a while to be ready for my actual move, I was far from the first to occupy an apartment here. But all the other promises made that day have been kept as well: Everything described to the public then has now become today’s reality. Please come and see for yourself!
Harriet Gross can be reached at harrietgross@sbcglobal.net.