Daughter and son seemed to be pleased and happy concerning this move but were dismayed with leaving school friends who were invited to visit us if in the area of our new home. Over this three year transfer period, several friends, immediate family members, and extended family members did visit us. During the time of the proceedings to close on the house in Florida, I contacted a realtor to rent our residence in New York to pay for our taxes and other costs on this residence. The house was leased to a congenial couple and their child. Previously, reliable and responsible tenants were selected by me to lease father in laws former house. Mother agreed to collect the rents, pay the taxes, mortgage, and other expenses and handle minor repairs through the contacting of tradesmen if necessary. This was a big relief to me as I was unsure how I would manage this real estate from a distance of over a thousand miles. At that time, I had a local or location mentality where I believed that physical presence in an area was a necessary ingredient for functionality. And so, with the above concerns resolved, mother, a cousin, and I departed for Florida to paint the newly purchased house and arrange for new carpeting to be installed in this home. Minor repairs were also necessary which we decided to resolve after moving into the house.
Prior to moving, I discussed with daughter and son the sorting through of their numerous toys and the subsequent decisions involved in deciding which toys to keep. I too decided to purge our home of unwanted or unnecessary household belongings. We decided to sell these items at our first and only garage/yard sale. Most all of the items were priced under $5.00 with the majority of items priced below $1.00. I could not believe how some people still insisted on bargaining to receive a cheaper price on an already ridiculously low price. At that point, I decided that in the future I would donate all unwanted household items to charity.
On a hot, stifling day in early July, we supervised the moving company who loaded our furnishings and belongings into a large truck to be moved into the newly purchased home in Florida. The truck departed one day prior to our family as we decided to spend the night at mother and father’s house, to start fresh on our travel early the next morning. We awoke early the following day and drove to our home to survey the house for the last time prior to the moving in of tenants. While out on the deck of the house, spouse saw our cat that had disappeared months earlier, running towards our home. The cat bounded onto the deck, excited and seemingly relieved to see us. We were pleased that this cared for pet returned to us who was apparently lost for months in the neighborhood, but I could not believe the cat returned at such an inopportune time. Fortunately, mother and father had a cat carrier available for us to use on this extensive road travel trip to South Florida. So, before 9:00 am, spouse, daughter, son, and I departed in two vehicles for Florida. In addition to two people in each car, each car contained a large dog, one car contained our long lost cat, and the other car contained daughter’s gerbils.
Our trek to Florida involved several stops along the way to relieve ourselves and our pets. We stayed overnight at a middle way point in South Carolina. The following day, we passed the moving truck containing our belongings on the interstate and early the next morning, we met the moving truck at our home in Florida. After unpacking and settling into this house, many minor repairs were made by ourselves and through the hiring of tradesmen. There were substantial differentials in the costs to hire