Our First House

House in Bridgewater, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog's Lorine has great blog post starter ideas and this week sounded like something I should work on.

Sharing Memories (Week 48): First House

 

Until we moved from this house in Bridgewater, MA to the condo where we presently live, this front to back split, was the only house we lived in. We were supposed to be relocated several times by the time my husband retired. Every day, I waited for the phone call telling us we had to move. It bothered me a lot.

 

We had to live with family (in Marlborough) for about seven weeks as my husband got word that he got the job he applied for. He gave his notice and worked for two weeks and then he was going to be sent to North Carolina for training for a MONTH. 

 

We came back from our honeymoon as struggled to find an apartment "within the circle". His regional manager took out a paper map and drew a red circle on it and we had to live within its perimeter! It did not extend to the Rhode Island border enough for me to keep my job. I still dream about the red circle.

 

I remembered a place called Bridgewater, which looked equidistant between two hospitals, so that was going to work for me but I didn't own a car of my own. So, we went to Bridgewater and found a brand new apartment complex and rented an apartment. The next year, we moved into a 2 bedroom because my husband was supposed to have a home office. (There was a lot they "forgot" to tell us when he was hired.)

 

Another year later, we bought this house for $29, 900. My parents were horrified at the price. It was 14 months old and very dirty. It took quite a while for us to get it cleaned up and the yard to look like it does in this photo. In the meantime, the company stopped moving people to North Carolina because all the new men had "working wives" and the salary offered did not meet their income. That feels so antique now. 

 

So, here we stayed. Hubs took a deal to retire at fifty and got a job with another company whose main area was the same as the one we had in the beginning. So, I began to save up for a retirement home instead of moving to another, bigger house in Bridgewater.

 

I always felt isolated in Bridgewater. It was an hour drive to take care of our elderly parents and it was hard on us to do that for so many years. Our daughter moved to the area we are in now and the time driving to both areas made me decide to move here near her. She wanted us to move nearer. She could take the traveling back to Bridgewater either. She began to scope out places for us to live. Living in a trailer in senior housing was out. (I sure was glad about that!)

 

Hubs wanted to work another year but they offered him a great deal. So, we moved leaving our old house behind. The town made us pay for an expensive septic system. Trees kept falling on the roof. There was mold in the attic. Even my next door neighbor moved after we did. I was glad we moved when we did. A nice couple bought our house. Things seemed to be balancing out.

 

This will always be our little house in the big woods....