Not long ago we sold our house in Maple Bluff, put everything in storage, moved to a friend’s unoccupied house, and started hunting Madison’s Eastside in our old Marquette neighborhood for our next home. Then Gene got an offer from her previous employer to plan a new 27-story cancer center in Singapore and to get there as soon as possible. We both thought this was an opportunity of lifetime. I had the difficult realization that I would need to leave Second Harvest Foodbank.
Fortunately, since we needed to declutter to sell the house, we began donating clothes and big stuff to St. Vinnies and other places when we first put the house up for sale nearly a year earlier. With all that done, we had random things we had to figure out like what to do with our kayaks and all the equipment, our two cars, and our cat, Lulu.
Our great friends and boating buddies, Deb and Mary, have friends we also know who live in Chicago and they were happy to take care and use our kayaks until we return. We sold our mini van to our niece, and lent our other car to Gene’s youngest son. Gene’s oldest son who lives in Minneapolis took our sweet cat and is really enjoying her company. We had frequent visits with friends and family, including Gene’s mom who visited from England for two weeks!
With most of our worldly goods in storage, we have packed our lives into three suitcases. We are downsized, packed, and off to the airport! Thanks Deb and Mary for the ride. Thank you Melina and George for lending us your home while you were away. It was the perfect place to be for our last six weeks.
It was a circus at times, but amazingly it all came together pretty well considering the massive changes that needed to happen in quick order. Selling the house shortly before this move to Singapore really made a difference. We are having a wonderful time.
We left on July 1, 2014, and will be here for 16 months; and should be back around November 15, 2015. We will also come home to visit once or twice. We look forward to seeing you!
