CHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2016

Mike and I are trying to remember what we did before THE MOVE to Butterfield Trail Village this year.  It seemed in the blur of 2016 that we were "getting ready to move" or "getting moved" or "getting settled" all year long.

Now we are proud to announce the arrival of both cars into the garage and the elimination of cardboard!  Hooray!

One of my greatest blessings is that Mike is a planner.  Several years ago, he had a ten-year-plan in which he saw us downsizing when he turned 75.  When he first started talking about Butterfield, I wanted none of it.  "You go on and look at it.  I'll take your word for it" I said.  So he went, he liked it, and he put money down to get us on a waiting list.

Three years later, they called and asked if we would be interested in building a unit.  In the interim, I found myself ready.  It's funny how one day you think you need a big place, and the next day you are strangely attracted to "less is more".

Oh, and yes...this coming March, Mike will be 75.

Last week our place was on display at Butterfield's yearly Open House.  We were floored that there were at least 120 people who came through.  Mike said it was a flood of baby boomers doing their due-diligence.  We answered lots of questions and here's what we told them about why we became VILLAGE PEOPLE:

1.  It appealed to us to scale down and have someone else mow your lawn, clean your house, and cook one meal a day.  And there's comfort in knowing there is a place here for assisted living (post-surgery), a dementia wing, and nursing care.  Still, it's weird to not be the captain of your own ship and own your own home, and we're still adjusting to that.

2.  Our gift to the kids this year is getting rid of stuff that they won't have to plow through later...and hopefully the stuff we did keep is better organized.

3.  We've always enjoyed building and when BTV asked if we would like to build a 2k square-foot unit, the juices flowed.  We got to monkey with blueprints, choose colors, finishes, light fixtures, and appliances.

4.  We totally love our wonderful neighbors.  Butterfield offers apartments in the three-story "big house", cottages, and village homes in the back where the "younger people" live in duplexes.  It's like we have stepped back to the first-married days because now we have "roof-mates".

Mike is teaching a Bible study on Mondays where  the spunky piano player is 100.  As we left the study last week, eight of us went on into lunch and shared a big round table.  The BTV dining room makes intentional friendships easier.

If you have a ten-year-plan or are just curious about Butterfield, Mike's a good salesman.  BTV was started by a consortium of five churches who recognized the need to come alongside the aging population and many have benefited from their graceful foresight.  The campus sits on 44 acres just blocks from retail and the Joyce/College Avenue intersection.  There are almost 200 staff and 400 residents, their occupancy rate now is 98%, and there are 120 people are on the waiting list.

We are looking forward to the NEW YEAR so that we can get our life back and think about higher and less self-absorbed things.  But before we close, please permit just two pics of grands:

Who wouldn't want a snow cone from these three lovely entrepreneurs in Little Rock?  (Don't miss that one particularly hygienic saleslady.)

Anyone want to take a four-wheeler ride with these ripsnorting Fayetteville boys?

God has made our lives rich with our kids and with their kids...as well as with our "new best friends" we are making at THE HOME.

The Cruses send our love and best wishes for the Father's richest blessings on you this Merry Christmas!  Keep looking up!

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet.  The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.  So we will be with the Lord forever."  1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17