The Journey Home
Although Michele and I have been married for more than 35 years, we’ve lived apart for about half that time.
When we were first married, we fell in love with our 1860’s era side hall colonial home with the beautiful white wrap around porch. It was our ‘forever’ home. Our house was where the family gathered for holidays and summer picnics lasted long into the night.
In the early 2000s, I got a job far from that home. The drive from home to my office was long…my new job as an Arts Administrator meant many late nights for concert & art shows. As many do, we began a saga of two households: Michele working and the kids attending school while living in the family home. I was building my career & came home on the weekends.
The beginning of the end of that life was in 2020. We came back together to teach & work virtually. We had saved enough to consider buying a small place that would eventually be our lock & leave home for travel. We accomplished step one in coming back together by finding a cozy townhouse with a gym & pool fifteen minutes from the beach in March of 2021.
In 2022, Michele decided on a 2025 retirement date. At that time, her civil service pension was secure. The children had begun lives of their own as teachers, and the utilities, taxes, upkeep and mortgage were more than we wanted to spend. Our retirement travel plan meant leaving behind our home unattended for extended periods of time….It was time for the next chapter.
And so we began the longest, slowest move ever. Michele spent 3 years culling, packing and moving our possessions. Add to that periodic summoning of the children to decide which of their childhood possessions they wished to keep & determining what to pass along for someone new to love.
By early 2025, Michele retired and we were ready to sell. After 9 months, we bid a tearful farewell to the house that held 32 years of family memories.
Today we are moving forward toward a new life… beginning our adventures side by side every day, for the first time in decades. Home is where the family is…where we gather around the table for meals, play games, laugh together and plan our next travel adventures.
Vinny and Michele were married in 1990
Michele and Vinny renewed their vows in Bermuda in 2023
Our family home circa 1992 - Painting by Ellen Rix
