Jim and I live out in the country (in rural Minnesota) and have 5 acres; about half of it woods and the rest a hilly lawn. And I have seven perennial flower gardens. They've been my real passion, but my meniscus-torn knee doesn't want to take care of those gardens anymore. Our house is big and we can't keep up with what needs to be done on our property. If we could hire yard/garden help, we might consider staying-in-place. But there just aren't those people in our vicinity that we can hire for that help.

So we figure we will move sometime soon. (We're both 71 years old.) We have our name on the list for a few Senior Cooperatives, but there are many people on these lists ahead of us. The co-op offers people interested to buy in the order according to where they are on the list. I can't imagine it will work to sell and buy into a co-op seamlessly. So we think we'll rent in the interim, until we can buy the co-op apartment that we want. Hopefully the cooperative apartment we want will become available within just a couple of years of renting.

Now, we've got a new consideration and we're not sure how it fits into our plans. My husband was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He had a robotic prostatectomy about three weeks ago and they think there's a good chance the cancer was contained within the prostate. But we do know that a recurrence at some point is a possibility. (We're optimistic for a "cure"!) His first post-surgery PSA will be in about two months. If the result of this test is anything other than "undetectable," we'll know there's still cancer in his body and will need more treatment. So we're nervous for, and looking forward to, getting beyond that benchmark test. We don't know how the cancer, especially if it is still in his body, should best be factored into our decision to make our move - sooner or later. We do know we want to remain within a decent driving distance from Mayo - Rochester, where Jim is getting such excellent care!

If any of you have any thoughts on the pros and cons of moving sooner or later, I'd love to hear them! We still have a lot of decluttering to do before we can put the house on the market. That work pretty much went by the wayside when we were researching the right treatment plan for Jim's cancer. And right now, he's early in his slow recovery from the surgery. And thankfully, his recovery is going well. His health is, of course, the most important thing to focus on! But we know we have some big decisions to make regarding a move and there will be quite a lot of work in that process. Thank you in advance for any thoughts you might share and I wish you all well!
Rose