I know I haven’t been writing as much the past few months. I have had a lot going on. But I thought I’d take some time today, on the last day of 2023, to share a bit of what’s been going on.
I have lived in Indiana for 33 years, 17 of them in Indianapolis, the state capital. But I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, grew up there, and lived somewhere around the area for most of my life. Even the first part of my stay in Indiana was in Dearborn County, right up against the state line. But we moved to Indianapolis in ‘06 because my in-laws were in their 80s, and it looked like they would be needing care at some point. Our younger son was still living at home when we moved there. His older brother was already in Indianapolis, and our daughter and son-in-law moved up because work prospects for him looked better at the time. So our whole family ended up there.
But my in-laws both died in 2018. My marriage broke up the following year. My son-in-law ended up disabled and taking early retirement. And some changes in the local schools that riled a lot of the parents got my daughter thinking about moving. They looked at other places, but finally settled on going back to Cincinnati.
Culturally, the two cities are very different, even though they are only about a hundred miles apart. Cincinnati was founded earlier, and many of the first settlers were Scots-Irish frontiersmen from Kentucky and western Pennsylvania. Central Indiana was settled almost 30 years later, and many of the early arrivals came from the Northeast. With its location on the Ohio River, Cincinnati became a commercial center and a major city very quickly. Indianapolis was founded later, in the middle of nowhere, to be the state capital—it is a government town, by its very nature. It has business now, but it was still a small town well into the 20th century. Its big growth came during the Depression and World War II, and then after.
Anyway, my year turned into getting the house I was living in ready to sell, helping my daughter’s family with the same for their place, and trimming down my belongings for a major move. Then in August, I got the chance to make my move at the end of the month. Then I had to do cleanup and painting on my new place. My daughter was able to find a place for her family, although it will take a few months to get the present tenants moved out.
And the move required a bunch of changes. My Medicare Advantage plan was only good for the Indianapolis metro area; I had to transfer to a new one for Cincinnati. Then I had to find new doctors. I had to get Ohio titles and plates for my car and van, and an Ohio driver’s license for me. New places to shop for groceries and other needs, adapting to changes in the area while I had been away, and a lot of other stuff.
In all this, I have been paying attention to what’s going on in the wider world, I just haven’t written much about it. I hope to get back to writing more, although there may be interruptions as I help with the preparations for moving my daughter’s family. But I am enjoying the changes and happy to be home.
Phil, I'm looking forward to your comments on the world.