Crow’s Feet Writing Prompt #56 — Downsizing
Breaking the Rules of Aging in Place
We bought a bigger house instead of a smaller one
When I was a little girl, my parents bought a big, old house on a hill in the small town of Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was built in 1899 and had seven bedrooms. The wraparound front porch that was shaded by huge cottonwood trees. It was the house of my mother’s dreams, and it became the house I would always use as the measuring stick to judge every house I ever lived in after that.
From that time forward I dreamed of having a big country farmhouse of my own; one built at the turn of the 20th century with high ceilings and wide moldings, oak floors, and transoms above the doors. And something most modern houses don’t have — character.
When it was time to start looking for a house last year, that was the image I had in my head. We were living in a plain vanilla brick and vinyl siding house that was suffocating me because it was so small. I wasn’t sure what we would find but I knew one thing was certain: I wanted a bigger house.
Every bit of advice you will hear from everyone is that when you get older you should buy a smaller house all on one level. It is best for “aging in place.” We were in a small house all on one level and I was…
