Today, after weeks of meetings, brainstorming and financial juggling, we signed with Danmark Construction to build our new home. We designed our new retirement home ourselves, adding all the little things we thought would be convenient. A home plan that looks great on paper might not look as ideal in reality. Only time will tell. This is the fourth (and positively the last) home we've built. My dad, a loan officer at the old First Federal Savings & Loan, helped us finance a new Kaiser-Keystone home when we were newlyweds. The entire home, lot and all, cost $19,900. It was a three bedroom split with hardwood floors. We stained and varnished the woodwork and doors and painted the walls. Our second home was built 5 years later by Alpha Construction. It sat on a wooded hill in Jackson Township. We were surrounded by nature, as every window had a view of the trees. We were quite content and had no plans to move for a long time. During the winter of 1988, I fell at the base of our icy driveway and broke a wrist. I had a stick shift car at the time and wasn't able to drive or go to work (traveling art teachers need both hands). For a diversion, we toured the Parade of Homes and fell absolutely head over heels with a model home in North Canton. The following October, we moved into our present home, a three bedroom bungalow with a wooded back yard and soaring ceilings, where we've resided for nearly 29 years. The location is fabulous, as we are close to the freeway, shopping, entertainment, you name it. However, as the years passed, we become discontent with "city living" and the general level of noise that one can expect when residents
are mowing, blowing snow, trimming and going about the business of life.. We have lovely neighbors, a nice mix of retirees and younger families with children.