Sometime within this next year I plan to leave Arizona. I believe today I found where I want to move to: Marietta, Ohio. I don’t know anyone there. I have no family there. I don’t have much for resources and don’t really know how I’ll manage the move. But I believe I will. This feels right, although scary. But there is much to see and do there, and from the internet (!) it looks wonderful! I have to grieve the leaving here, and that will take some time. But I am open and willing — so…….
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Stop the Storm 
ps—you will have snow in Ohio!!!
Yes and yes and yes. I am hoping that I will be OK here until next summer. I don’t know. There’s so much history in Marietta – water — two big rivers! Old stand hard wood forests — I feel the call. I knew I would have to relocate sooner or later. If/when Ernie’s health fails and he cannot come to the shop anymore, and disappears into his mansion, I will no longer be able to see him, anyhow. When Ernie is gone and the family gets this house, I sure wouldn’t be able to stay here. There never has been an easy way to get out of this relationship. I do want a complete change of scene. And a change of seasons. I know the winters have to be much better than Alaska, Fargo, ND (where my kids are) or northern Minnesota where I spent many years.
As strange as it seems, the exact spot I am in right now is the only place that feels like ‘home’ in this whole area, though I love the land here. It’s getting more and more expensive in the SW. Maybe someday I can come back here. I also want to be able to visit Prince Edward Island – all my mother’s mother’s ancestors came through there. Family still there, somewhere. But I want to REALLY see the sea. I am working hard at not sinking in grief here — yes, it is a death. Complicated death! Thank you for your kind words, as always!
Linda, Are you leaving because of Ernie? Perhaps, in time, you will get beyond him and be able to stay in your beloved desert. It’s like greiving a death–it’s good to avoid major life decisions for about a year–until emotions settle and they will settle. Don’t leave on impulse–think about it for awhile.
If it’s not Ernie and your moving for a major change of scenery, Marietta Ohio seems like a nice place–even the name is pretty!