Anyone who knows my husband knows he is a talker. He will talk to anyone who is standing still long enough and close enough to him. To his advantage, this has come in handy in jobs, getting directions (yes, he will ask over using any kind of GPS) and the best places to eat.
So, just about everywhere we have gone or anyone who has come by our house (neighbors, delivery people, etc) Ron has struck up a conversation with them. The person in line behind us at a store gave us directions to another store. The people at the booth next to us at a local pizza place turned out to know several of our neighbors and were familiar with the company Ron will be working for even though it is based in Pennsylvania. The Lowe's delivery guy told us about more than a handful of restaurants as he was delivering our "beer fridge" (and yes, there are other beverages besides beer in it).
One thing that all of these very friendly people have in common with each other and us is that no one is "from" here. Every one of them is a "transplant" from somewhere else. I guess that comes from living in a "resort" area and a town that has only existed for 15 years. One town over has been an organized town for 50 years and another since 1973.
Most we have talked to are from further up the East Coast; New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts. We have met people from Pennsylvania, Ohio and even Utah.
Each person has a similar story to ours in some way. Something drove them to leave their hometowns and live by the sea. They came for family, friends or the weather. They were tired of the cold. They vacationed here for years. They were once tourists, too.
Just like us.
So, we are not alone in our craziness (at least not this facet of it). We vacationed here for years. We loved the beach here. We love walking in the sand. We love the smell of the sea air. And all of these people we have met have traveled the road we are now on. They have found their "new" normal and aren't tourists anymore. They seem to be fine.
And we will be too, we just have to be patient, find our new normal and enjoy the ride...
Hey Sweet girl...welcome to the ocean. Vacationing is one thing living it is different. Even though we are on opposite coasts I believe the same truths come through. I do love that realization...after dear friends leave and the sadness of goodbye morphs into realizing that you get to stay. Paradise is where you live.
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