Have you moved lately? It had been about eight years since I sold my house and moved to my condo so I wasn't ready for the realities of my recent move. It seems like the costs are all up and I had the additional handicap of being in recovery from my double knee replacement operation. I had to hire endless help to make the move. Not having quite enough money was another serious handicap. This seems to be the worst time in years for a move. Add to that Chicago's recent bad weather and you have an idea of the difficulties.

My problems are not all solved but why complain? I'm living in a luxury highrise senior building on Chicago's Gold Coast just off north Michigan Avenue with  fine views of Lake Michigan and the skyline. My condo is under contract although there are difficulties with the deal and I had to reduce the price a lot. I'm still hoping that the sale will go through.

I learned a lot about moving. There are companies (at least in large cities) to help. Here The Clare provided Moving Station a company that advises on everything from choosing movers to hiring people to downsize and organize. I'm very grateful to another company Mature Transitions that provided that help. Having a family to help would have saved me money but I had four Mature Transitions workers handle everything from moving my plants and the contents of my refrigerator and freezer to unpacking my worldly goods and arranging my furniture in my new apartment. I can't find everything yet but without such help I'd still be living among boxes.

For those of you who are wondering no I'm not in assisted living. I'm in an independent living two-bedroom apartment (one bedroom is for my computer equipment) in a building that provides further levels of care should I ever need them. The food is gourmet quality (and no I don't have to eat three meals a day here but I can if I want to: a good thing in this cold winter). The hefty monthly fee includes utilities once-a-week cleaning service and many other amenities. The drawback is the cost of all this; if the economy does not improve I'll be in big trouble. I'm still hoping for the best although you might point out that there are many many cheaper places I could live. Time will tell if my dream of living in this location makes sense.

So wish me luck! I have no right to complain when so many seniors are so much worse off and I don't want to gloat. This is not paradise but I hope everything will work out. It's an interesting experiment in high-end retirement living.