My mind is constantly on moving to Wausau, Wisconsin. I have been living in Rhinelander, Wisconsin for 19 years. Nineteen years is the longest time I have lived in one city in all of my adult life. Rhinelander has so many memories, both good and bad. My reason for moving? Both of my kids are in their early twenties. Rhinelander does not offer much for people in their twenties. Both decided to move to Wausau because it is a much larger city with lots of jobs.
I started to think about moving when I saw my son’s new apartment. My mind kept thinking how much I hate where I am living and how I would miss my kids when they were gone. Wausau is an hour’s drive away from Rhinelander. I also thought about how I would be closer to my other siblings and their families. The more I thought about it the more I felt God was calling me to move.
The plan started to form in my head. I started looking at apartments and defining where I would like to live as I enter my retirement years. I knew I would still need to work part time so I put in my transfer papers at my Walmart to transfer to the Wausau Walmart.
The Apartment Hunt
My first thought was to move into an 55+ apartment building. I found City Walk apartments and started the application process. They only had one bedroom apartments available. The staff wanted lots of paperwork and I went through a half a cartridge of ink before I sent off the first round of paperwork. After they received my paperwork they asked for more documents. One was for my cat. That meant a trip to the vet for shots. Poor kitty! Once I got all the second round of documents together I sent them off. However, I started to think maybe a 55+ apartment was not for me. It has been more than three weeks since I last heard from City Walk. I wonder if I will hear from them since I spent so much time and money trying to give them the documents they required. Much of the information was much more than required by most apartment managers. I started to wonder if a 55+ apartment was for me so I started to look at other apartments.
That is when I found Fox Run apartments in a suburb of Wausau. I printed off the application and sent it out the same day I sent off the second round of documents to City Walk. That was a Wednesday. I knew the Fox Run offices were closed Fridays through Sundays so I waited until the following Monday to call to see if they had got my application. I spoke with Erin. We talked about my income and my needs in an apartment. She told me if I was approved my name would go to the top of the list. (I think she already had an apartment in mind for me but needed approval from the owners of the property first.) That was September 28th.
Thursday, October 1st I took a load of stuff down to my youngest kid’s apartment. They were moving into an apartment near Fox Run. While waiting for them to sign the lease to start bringing things in, Erin from Fox Run called me. I was approved! A week and a half later I had the security deposit together and went down and signed the lease. I am so excited!
My Church Family
One thing that has been consistent in my nineteen years here in Rhinelander is my church family Yesterday I was standing in my church singing worship songs with some of my church family and I started to tear up. I realized I would be leaving them in a couple of weeks and I may not see some of them before I leave. Because of COVID we have two services and I do not get to see some of my church family because they attend the early service. My church family has been there for me through all of my sorrows and joys.
My sorrows started within a year of moving to Rhinelander. My now ex husband and I were having problems and by 2006 we ended our 22 year marriage. The year of 2006 was also very difficult as my mother-in-law passed away suddenly shortly after our divorce. Another milestone for 2006 was when my best friend Ralph died of cancer. Ralph was also a member of my church so his passing was hard on all of us.
My joys included finishing my master’s degree and a graduate certificate in pastoral counseling. Yet, the biggest joy was how much I grew in the Lord because of my church family. Years of great preaching under Pastor Jim and now Pastor Rod my faith grew. Life groups, women’s retreats and get togethers, and of course Sunday school also contributed to my Christian growth. I will miss my church family so much!
My Walmart Family and Friends
I could not forget my Walmart family and my friends. Some of my friends I met when I first lived here. Others I have met and remained friends from the various places I have worked. Many I will continue to stay in contact through Facebook.
A few days ago I celebrated my six year anniversary at my Walmart. During that time I have met so many people, either coworkers or people who are regulars in the self checks where I work. Some of my coworkers and I have become very close. Many are on Facebook but a few are not. I will really miss the ones who are not on Facebook. I will also miss my great management team. I probably would not have stayed this long if it was not for my managers.
This Apartment
I have moved a lot times during my time here in Rhinelander. Twice I lived in my ex husband’s basement. I spent around nine years in a mobile home until I could not afford both lot rent and house payment and gave the mobile home back to the bank. Including this one, I have lived in five different apartments. Out of all of them this one turned out to be the worse!
I was so excited to move into this apartment two years ago. At the time I was in love with the concept of a tiny home. This apartment is only about 460 square feet. However, shortly after I moved in I realized there was just not enough usable storage in this apartment. In fact I soon discovered mice were constantly roaming (and leaving presents) around all my below the counter kitchen cabinets. Every time I wanted to use something I had to wash it. Ugh! Finally, I gave up and kept stuff I use often in a box in the living room and pans on top of the tiny apartment-size stove. There are other boxes I have in the living room I have not unpacked. My bedroom is also loaded down with boxes of stuff I have yet to go through. Most of them have books and papers from the nine plus years of schooling in them.
However, the worst part of this apartment is my neighbor. I have tried to “love” him but I just can’t! I have tried to forgive him for his many offenses but again, I can’t! My head tells me he is developmentally disabled but my heart and lungs are not listening to my head. You see, my neighbor is a smoker and he likes to sit right by the door to smoke. This apartment house has both a front door and a back door to a hall where my apartment door is located. The front door opens out onto a nice big porch. However, I cannot use it because my neighbor sits out there and smokes at all times of the day or night. He also often smokes in his apartment (against lease rules) and next to the back door. The back door is worse because that is where I park and enter. I have asthma and even when I get a whiff of cigarette smoke it causes a coughing attack which can last hours.
He also is a registered sex offender. It is something my landlord failed to inform me when I moved in. It has caused emotional distress for me because I was molested at four years of age. At least twice I have seen my neighbor standing in front of my window. The last time it looked as if he was trying to look in under the blinds I had raised part way up so the cat could look out. When I complained to the landlord my landlord blew me off with the statement “he’s (my neighbor) a really nice guy if you get to know him”. I refer to my neighbor as creepy guy number one. Why would I want to get to know him? Even my Pastor recommend I avoid my neighbor as much as possible.
Finally, my neighbor never helps out when it is time to haul the trash and recycling dumpsters down to the curb. Instead, I have to do it or the new guy upstairs. It hurts my back every time I haul one of those big dumpsters. I feel sorry for the new guy I am leaving behind.
My New Apartment
My new apartment has everything I want and none of the things mentioned above. It is a two bedroom so I will have a dedicated office space. It has lots of storage! And even storage in the basement I can lock up.
It also has my dream kitchen. I love to cook and have struggled the last two years with lack of storage and counter space. My new kitchen has a ton of cabinets and counter space plus a pantry! It is also big! And best of all it has a dishwasher! I will be in heaven!
For the next two weeks I will be packing up my life and saying good bye. I know in my head Rhinelander is only an hour away from my new home but my heart is breaking. Winter is coming and I know I will not want to come up to Rhinelander often yet my grandchildren live here. So goodbye for now Rhinelander but I will visit! Love you all!
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