Life in the Condo
Living alone and lonely...
Living alone and lonely...
This is My Story...
I am a late 70's widower living alone in a condo. I am a retired engineer, manager, network admin with time on my hands. I have time because I am grieving the loss of my wife of fifty-two years. In 2020 we decided to sell much of what we owned and travel the country as RV nomads. But in 2021, she was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, a form of dementia that not only includes loss of memory and cognitive skills, but includes Parkinson's symptoms. It has been a difficult journey. She did not want to be left in a nursing home, so I was her full-time caregiver at home. She lost her battle with the illness in June of 2024. I have been told that being her caregiver was special, even extraordinary. But I don't see it that way. I made promises when we got married and I was just doing what I promised. Since that time, I have been living alone in our condo. And I have concluded that living alone sux.
The reality is that I am very blessed. Pam and I had three daughters and they have five boys between them. Why am I blessed? I am blessed because our girls are loving, caring, honest, hard-working members of society. They have done an extraordinary job raising their boys to be the same. While we experience some of the same bumps and grinds that other families do, they all understand how much I value family. If I am in need, they are there for me. Pam may be gone, but she (we) left a legacy to be proud of. And I am very proud of all of them.
And just a little more background... I was born in New York, but raised in Milford, Connecticut. From the age of seven, I knew that I was going to be an engineer. I received a degree in aeronautical engineering. I worked as an engineer for several computer companies and eventually got into engineering management. In 2001 I lost my job as Assistant Vice President for Corporate Quality after the company was bought out. I took on a second career as a network administrator for a large Maine school system. I finally retired in 2020.
Pam and I bought a used motor home in January 2019 and began to do some traveling. We spent a week on Prince Edward Island in Canada, a week in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, and a week in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to visit our friend Terri and husband, John. Ultimately, we decided to sell our farm and much of what we owned and travel as nomads for two years. We hit the road in October of 2020. The COVID epidemic had many places shut down, so we played "snow bird" and spent seven months in Silver Springs, Florida.
NOTE: Please keep in mind that this entire site is a work in progress. It is not complete. Check back often.
You might notice that I have added another page to this site. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is about my love of roses and the work I have done in my condo planting area.
My work on the jig-saw puzzle got suspended for Easter because I needed the dining table. It will be back soon.
Courtney 's recovery continues and she is back in the office three days a week.
My tote storage project is complete. I will be updating that info later this week. The next phase of that is to move Pa's Santa collection out of cardboard boxes and into the totes.
Next up in the wood shed is a display box for my grandson's football jersey.
It is May and later this month I will be celebrating Pam's birthday. It will not be easy.