In the late Eighties' Helen and I were doing some serious thinking about retirement.  In a few years I would be sixty years old and I could collect my full Local Three pension.  There was a lot to consider and a lot of budget figuring since I wouldn't be receiving Social Security for two years after our target date.  It was decided we could do it if we were frugal for a while.

        Florida was considered as a good retirement area, so we spent a week there in Nineteen Eighty Nine.  The whole week was dedicated to looking at new homes, condominiums, and property.  The asking prices were enough to make you eat your heart out.  It was tempting enough to make you want to plunk down some money on the spot.  We traveled North, South, East and West and looked at many fine places.  It was on the flight back to New York that we looked at each other, and in unison, said "Florida was not for us".

        Helen had her mind set on a condominium, since if we stayed where we were, there would be many expenses to refurbish the house, driveway, and spruce up the landscaping etc. So Western Suffolk County was our choice to start shopping for a condo.  Helen had to do a lot of fast talking to talk me into giving up our home of twenty nine years.  I didn't like the attached, town home type of condo, so we looked high and low and finally came across a development of individual, unattached condominiums.  At the time they were unique to Western Suffolk, and even I became very interested since they offered a basement as an option.  We made a few trips to the area, and decided it was a good move.

        The Commack house was put up for sale and we had a buyer within three weeks.  Not bad, considering the real estate market was in a slump.  After going through the usual legal moves and having the new place built, we made our move on December Twenty First, Nineteen Ninety.  It was a hectic day, a sad day, and yet a feeling of joy, with our new place to look forward to. The sad part was leaving  my brother Bob and wife Rita behind.  Twenty nine years is a long time.  I guess I'm just sentimental, after all, we moved only about twenty miles away.  Below is a photo of our new place.