We resided in nearby Canterbury until 2008. Having four weddings within 18 months, we became “empty nesters” very quickly. We decided to downsize and found a perfect “retirement” home in Hampton! At that time, it was our eighth move during 28 years of marriage, so it was certain that we would NEVER move again! Never say NEVER! God has a tremendous sense of humor!!!
In 2009, our oldest of four sons, married with no children yet, was in the military stationed in Alaska, also serving a tour in Afghanistan. He has served two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Djibouti. In February, 2010, our second oldest son, his wife, and at that time two children, informed us that they were relocating to Kentucky. Our third son, his wife, and at that time one child, already lived in Kentucky. Our youngest son, his wife, and at that time two children, lived in nearby Woodstock, assuring us that they would be moving out of Connecticut, and not to let them hold us back from relocating. So the journey to Kentucky began.
I had never seen so much fencing in my entire life until my first visit to Kentucky! I saw it all in one day. Within the first 24 hours of arriving in Kentucky, driving by a nearby field, we saw the remains of a cow on her side after giving birth to a calf which was also remains. Welcome to Kentucky! We found a house in Carlisle, Nicholas County. In April of 2010, back in Hampton, we loaded a 26′ moving truck, a 5′ x8′ enclosed trailer, and one of our sons pick-up trucks. We had previously shipped my Honda Odyssey and 1970 classic pickup truck, which were also filled with some of our “treasures”!
Back to Kentucky! There were floods. I never saw such severe flooding in my just over a half of a century of life (at that time)! We saw houses with water up to the first floor windows and farms under deep water. Although we weren’t in our home yet, (we stayed with one of our sons for a couple of weeks), we were retrieving our mail daily. We lived about 25 minutes away from our sons. We were detoured going to the town where our new home was. Then the detour gave us another detour because of the vast flooding. The third time was the charm that got us there. The first Saturday in May is Kentucky Derby Day, and all the hype that accompanies it! The world stops for a day, all for a barely two minute horse race.
Many times I have said to myself, “once you have seen a horse or a cow, you’ve seen them all”. Wrong! They have great personalities! It is so amazing how you can put so many of God’s creatures in one pasture, and they all seem to get along, for the most part. Cows, horses, donkeys, and even chickens! By the way, I didn’t know the difference between a donkey, a mule, and a burro, until then. Do you? Why can’t human beings learn to get along like these animals? Above these animals, we have free will and intellect. I guess a lot of us just don’t know how to use it, or how to use it wisely! The residents in the house that we were about to move into were detained because of the flooding and heavy rains. While waiting, we traveled the countryside daily and found our way around so much better. The roads are narrow and many don’t have shoulders. What a savings for taxpayers!
Finally moving day came! We stopped at a local “Dairy Cheer” for lunch. The young man working there was very friendly. His deceased mother was also named Terri, and he has a brother with the same name as one of our sons. He and his brother helped us into the early hours of the next day to move in to our new abode! AND he is from the same “blink your eyes and you missed it” town that my husband is from in upstate New York!
Situated on a hill, with over nine acres, surrounded by “hollers” (small valleys), and scenery for 50 miles around, we could see clear to Maysville, Kentucky. (Actor George Clooney and the late Rosemary Clooney are from there). Our neighbors were horses and cows, which I loved! No room for idle gossip!!! Also, I never heard of fodder shocks until I lived in Kentucky – a cluster of dried corn stalks used for fall decorating!
Most people weren’t as friendly as I had imagined in terms of “southern hospitality”. They just couldn’t seem to think, or get, outside of their “box”. AND they didn’t take kindly to letting new people in. There were very few exceptions to this. We did meet a couple who lived about two miles away from us while we lived in Canterbury. Here we were almost 900 miles away from Canterbury, now living about five miles away from this couple in Kentucky! I never experienced a tornado warning before. We had many while living there. It can be very frightening. I certainly don’t miss them! Why don’t most houses have basements there???
During the five years in our ninth residence, and 35 years of marriage, we gained eight more grandchildren, bringing that total to thirteen! Six lived in Kentucky. We had the blessings of watching growing spurts, and having their company very often! In April 2015, we found a house in Paris, Bourbon County, our tenth residence, nearer to our Kentucky grandchildren. For three years we resided two miles away from one son and his family, and a half a mile away from another son and his family. Another grandchild added to the family brought us to fourteen grandchildren — eleven boys and three girls!
Our Connecticut son and family never left Connecticut. My heart has always been here in New England. We made a very difficult decision to move BACK to Connecticut in 2019. God opened every door for us to move back to our eleventh, and hopefully last, residence in Hampton! We received a purchase agreement on our Kentucky house, greater than it was worth, almost immediately after was listed. We came to Connecticut in April 2019, and looked at houses for a week. On the eighth day of looking, we made an offer on our present home. Late that night we received confirmation that our offer was accepted! Thankfully, I had most of my packing and moving sales done because I broke my wrist on Mother’s Day, 2019. I didn’t go to a doctor for two days, thinking it was only bruised. The bank didn’t require some of the things that we expected of them, which was a major blessing to us, expediting the transaction for all parties concerned! This house is exactly five miles away from the house we sold nine years prior to moving to Kentucky. Within five weeks we had closed on the house in Kentucky and we were literally moving in to our present abode! God opened every door! Upon arrival in Connecticut, we were warmly welcomed by family, friends, former neighbors, and new neighbors!
There were so many things we missed while living in Kentucky such as the foliage, the ocean, seafood, and PIZZA! New England has so much beauty and history to offer! We missed our fellowship with family and friends here. God planted us in Hampton with blessings above and beyond!! We love it here! There’s no place like “home”, friends, family and good FOOD!
Terri and Dale Warner