Christmas 2018

Greetings from Oklahoma

We are so happy to report that living in a retirement community really isn’t so bad--IT IS QUITE NICE!   I love it and Smitty actually told someone that he LIKES it too.  It was hard for him at first because he missed our friends, our bible study, our church and our beautiful home on the lake.

We have our own 2000 square foot “cottage”, one of 45 in a gated area across the street from “the big house” where the apartments, assistant living and memory care are.  We take our little golf cart over for breakfast and activities.  It’s much nicer than we ever expected.  The landscaper dug our rose garden, Joy and Dan gave us 4 sections of old wrought iron fence, we got an arbor from Amazon and we have a lovely garden to look at from our “cozy” porch.

Our 5 rose bushes were so productive that we had a little rose ministry.  Smitty found the perfect vases at Hobby Lobby (close by) and we delivered 32 rose bouquets to some of the “old folks”.

It was hard leaving our church family in Lindale, but we are going with the kids to Life Church and love it.  We sit for the songs and watch all of the people around us--
young & old, dressed as they please, all nationalities and all so full of The Holy Spirit. It makes me think of what it must have been like when Peter preached to the crowd at Pentecost.  Craig is a great bible based preacher and I’ve read several of his books.  The nice part is that we go out together to eat after.

Touchmark has a well equipped wellness center which we use most days after breakfast.  That is sometimes our biggest meal of the day.  They always have fresh fruit, choice of meat, nice omelets and daily specials.  Six or eight of us meet at 8:30 at a big round table for a hearty meal and lusty conversation lasting usually over 2 hours.  We just got a new chef from Nemacolin Woodland Resort near where we grew up in Pennsylvania.  We are excited and looking forward to many more outstanding meals.

One of our new friends has had a career in the food business and we have much in common.  I’m having an opportunity to use some of my cooking skills here.  Dan’s mother came to visit this summer and we were encouraging her to move here so I had an impromptu afternoon tea to introduce her to ladies in the apartments.  It was such a success that I am having a Christmas Open house here on the 12th.  It gives me a chance to pull out my silver service and pretty dishes and try new recipes.

Our big new responsibility and joy is taking care of the children’s precious  2 dogs and cat while they travel.  We move right in and after we come back for breakfast (only 10 minutes away) we tend our cats and love on them.  We spend most of the time around their pool or lately baking things for our party and using their freezer to store them.

The highlight of the year was celebrating Smitty’s 88 birthday on October 19.  Joy and Dan hosted a dinner party for our new friends, Smitty’s pingpong buddies from their former neighborhood and our family.

Suzie came from Dallas, all of the Davis children were here including Andrew just before he left to open his own Law Firm in Scotsdale. David was having a little surgery so he and Sandy couldn’t come from Tennessee.  At the end of the evening they took us all to the media room and Sam projected on the big screen greetings from all who couldn’t come and a wonderful collection of photos through the years sent in by all.  Sam is a wizard with electronics and  it is a treasure.

Our girls were so wonderful taking care of the move, the sale of the house, disposing of the furniture we left behind and getting us settled.  We are so blessed.  We miss  Hideaway Lake, our friends and our church but this is an exciting new chapter of our lives and we are so thankful that we can take it together.

Have a blessed Christmas holiday

3041 Touchmark Drive
Edmond, Ok. 73003

405-509-2419 Land
903-530-6301 Cell

Paul.NormaSmith@Yahoo.com

We've Moved!

We have finally moved to Edmond, Ok. in  a gated community of 45 bungalows which are a part of Touchmark at Coffee Creek, a full service retirement community.

It’s even better than we hoped. Kim VerPlank & her dad (a resident in the apartments) on Sunday and after were sitting at the table for brunch when Joy & Dan popped in and joined us.  We are just 10 minutes from them.  They asked me to bake rolls for the office tomorrow for Dan’s birthday lunch.

Our neighbors are wonderful - especially the couple next door. He is the CFO at a local hospital and she is an accomplished pianist, witty and very caring. We had a dinner party last week for 6 of the neighbors and it was such fun, we are planning another for 8.

The girls gave me rose bushes for my birthday and the landscapers are digging my rose garden next week.

It was a very hard move because when Smitty finally decided, we did it in a month.  We never could have done it without our 3 daughters.  They handled everything - the move, getting the house ready to sell, staging it, getting rid of the furniture we didn’t take, helping us get settled here.  What a job!!  We could never have done it without them.  Don’t wait until you are as old as we are to downsize and move.

I found a spot for my crafts in the garage in a walled off area in front of the golf cart,  complete with an oriental rug! It's a perfect "Craft Cave."

One new friend is a Home Economist, decorator and recent widow.  She is special.  We are going to a cooking demo this week and she is helping us with decorating ideas.

Smitty is a new person.  He is up at 7:30 & we are off to a big breakfast with lots of friends and then to the newly renovated fitness center each morning.  He has more energy and is becoming his old “teasing” self.  I have my rose garden and he tends the 4x8 raised vegetable plot.

We miss Hideaway and our dear friends but are adjusting beautifully to our new life at Touchmark at Copper Creek.