When I thought we’d be heading to Florida in September, I had my bags packed.

Actually I hadn’t really unpacked after I returned home June 13th (after my solo trip south). Since then, I had left a majority of my Florida clothing in the suitcase.

I’ve already duplicated most of the non-clothes items so there are doubles of many items in Florida as well as Michigan (printer, phone system, jewelry cleaner, hair drier, etc.), but my favorite clothing items have been dragged back and forth repeatedly.

In September, when we had to postpone/cancel the September-November trip to Florida because of John’s illness, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, I started looking at things very differently. I realize how fragile life is and how you need to protect your health assets. You also need to be prepared for whatever comes along.

I want to preserve my husband’s energy. I would definitely like to see us start “flying” rather than driving that long trip. Of course we can’t do that as long as we have our little dog, but sadly we know she isn’t well and probably won’t be with us much longer. Flying would be a lot easier on John and that should be our primary consideration. I don’t drive the truck at all (it scares me and I’d be a nervous wreck in the traffic), so all of the driving is on him while I navigate. It’s nearly 1,300 miles but at least we do it at a leisure pace over three days. There have been times when airline tickets were actually cheaper than driving and staying in motels but that shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

We have a car down there, so we’d just have to have a shuttle or friend take us to and from the airport.

Since I’m now thinking along those lines, I am revising what I’ll be taking to Florida in December and definitely what I’ll be bringing back with me when we return in April. I’m going to try hard to divide my clothes and leave things in one location or the other. I’m starting by leaving my Michigan clothes for next spring and summer. I dress differently in Florida anyway, lots more capris and dressy casual attire. A lot of “party-type dresses.”

When we bought our Florida condo last October, I told John the condo was like an “insurance policy.” Since I’m younger than John and women generally outlive their spouses, I said, “If I am ever alone, I would want to live in Florida.” I would have a hard time handling the chores around our Saginaw home but the condo would be easy for me. Our condo community, Kings Point, even has shuttle service and bus trips for residents who no longer want to drive. The neighborhood is friendly, a perfect place for an individual or an older but limited couple.

Our friends, Jim and Sissy, just sold their up-north house and are now full-timing in Florida. Part of the reason is because Jim has Parkinsons and they feel it will be easier on him to only have one place to worry about.

I doubt that John will be ready to give up our Michigan home anytime soon, but maybe someday, since his disease is “progressive,” he’ll realize that our home is too much work and he needs to conserve as much of his energy as possible so he can stay as well and enjoy life without the responsibilities of a big house. That may be a long way off, but then again it may not. No one can tell how long the medication he’s on will keep the fibrosis (scarring of his lungs) at bay. He’s doing so good now, that I can be hopeful that it’ll never be an issue, but I still want to be prepared. It’ll be easier to start by setting us up to be able to go back and forth without bringing every piece of clothing I own.

So I’m going through the stuff I had planned to bring back to Florida and I want to get used to “traveling light.” What I take down there won’t be coming back with me. (Or at least most of the stuff.) If I find I don’t have something I need and it’s in the other location, I’ll replace it.

With this mind-set, I will be doing a lot of things differently. My husband’s comfort and health is my primary concern. He is definitely able to drive it now, but who knows how he’ll be next year. We may end up with six months here and six months in Florida: April-September in Michigan and October-March in Florida. Whatever is best for John.