My Retirement in Colorado

by Mitchell
(Co)

I decided to retire almost 2 years ago at the age of 71. It was a difficult decision to make as we had just purchased a home 2 years earlier here in Colorado Springs.

My wife and I had been living in a single-wide mobile home in a senior mobile home park. When our daughter had a baby we made the decision to find a home where she and her son could move in with us. The result was a 2,000 s.f. 5 bedroom house and I mortgage that won't be paid off until I'm 99 years old!

This was not our original retirement plan but we are making it work. We are happy with our new neighborhood and our new home. We would not have relocated somewhere else regardless.

Colorado Springs has so much to offer, both culturally and outdoor activities. We are right at the foothills of the Rockies and can get to Denver in an hour for even more activities. This is a beautiful city and we love it. It is large enough to have all the amenities but small enough to not have a large urban city feel to it.

We moved all of our belongings ourselves with the aid of one other person who we paid to move the heavy items. The move also included emptying out a storage unit we had rented for over 2 years and getting rid of quite a bit of stuff that we had accumulated over the years and not used for a long time. Some of it had moved from Colorado to Tennessee and back again without ever being opened.

We kept all of the eclectic furniture we had and are slowly adding to it as we are able. The new house came with all the appliances. We replaced the old stove immediately and the refrigerator, brand new at the time, a couple of years ago when it died.

We have fit into the new neighborhood very well. After 4 years here, we have seniority on our block. Being close to Ft. Carson means there is a lot of turnover of military personnel.

The house directly behind us is a rental and has had military personnel the entire time. We did well until the current tenants moved in. They have 3 dogs that are barkers. I have had to call the rental agent twice and the Humane Society once about the problem. It has gotten better and I hope I don't have to call again. If the Humane Society comes out again, they'll be cited and given a ticket.

Overall, I am pleased with our move and expect to stay here for many years. I love being out of the mobile home park and the senior aspect of that facility. At my age I refuse to consider myself as a senior citizen (unless it gets me a senior discount!).

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