The Real Reason We're Moving.

Many people have asked us why we are moving away from Mooresville.

There are multiple correct answers to that question, with varying weights of importance to each answer.

But to reiterate once again, aside from the fact that as we grow older, we become less and less enamored with Indiana weather, our decision to move has absolutely nothing to do with Mooresville.

But there are definitive reasons, and the elements that have factored into our decision to relocate have come into focus, and have been pondered, prayed over, and considered over the course of many years. The ultimate decision was not made lightly or flippantly, and certainly didn't come without some trepidation and some sleepless nights.

At the top of this list is the benefit to my wife's overall health the change in climate is going to provide. As many know, the Mrs. has suffered from multiple health issues for most of her life. It started with a brutal case of Histoplasmosis (look it up, kids) when she was in 2nd grade as a little girl. The belief is that that bout damaged her overall immune system, and she has struggled with numerous sicknesses and illnesses ever since, not the least of which was a brain tumor in 2002.

The underlying issue she has dealt with her whole life is sinus problems. Not the normal sniffles and allergies so many of us deal with, but rather, wholesale sinus failure, wherein her sinuses simply don't work, and her's don't function the way our's do for most the rest of us. Back in the early 1990's, her ENT doctor told her if ever a sinus transplant was invented, my wife would be first in line for the procedure. He told her then she would eventually need to move to some low humidity clime to eventually find some relief. "You'll need to move to Arizona, or to an ocean somewhere before you'll ever really feel better," was how he explained it to her. That was nearly 25 years ago.

Since then, that bit of wisdom has proven true every time we've vacationed near an ocean. In the week or maybe two we might have near the ocean, her sinuses clear up, her headaches clear up, and she's quite frankly a different person, only to have it all plug up again the moment we cross the state line back into Indiana.

With the residual complications and headaches she now suffers as a result of her brain tumor, the almost daily weather and pressure changes Indiana is so famous for are absolutely brutal on the Mrs. And without boring you with all the other details, let's just say that that seed of wisdom that was planted by her doctor all those years ago has been slowly growing in us ever since.

In the summer of 2014, most of the other factors simply began to fall into place pretty quickly. Our children were growing up and moving away on their own. The housing industry was such that the time was right to sell our home here and buy something there. And various other factors lined up which finally made the whole puzzle just sort of solve itself.

But the reality is that something far bigger was at play. And there was essentially one much larger factor that drove us to finally pull the trigger on all of this. And to explain it, I have to take you back to the Spring of 2002.

That was when Ginger's brain tumor was diagnosed. And while I've marginally explained the damage it did to her health, and the permanent physical damage with which she was left, the whole episode had a much bigger impact on our overall psyche.

As you might imagine, the whole thing scared the daylights out of us. There was a very real fear of (and a very real chance of) her dying from this. After she came through it all, it left us with a very different outlook on life in general. It put many things into perspective for us. In short, we were left with a much bigger appreciation for life than we'd had before.

After her brain tumor, certain things that had been important to us before just weren't anymore. We began to play a lot more. And I don't mean just spending money frivolously or ridiculously, but rather making sure we spent our time more on living life, and less on worrying about things. Mowing the grass could wait. That project we'd been meaning to tackle just didn't seem to matter that much anymore. Certainly not at the expense of spending time enjoying each other's company, and spending time with our kids.

We made sure we didn't miss vacations. Often, when chores needed to be done around the house, we'd instead all pack up and head to a Reds game. Rather than asking the Mrs. to slave over dinner, we'd just go out and have some pizza or Japanese food. (Kabuto Steakhouse in Greenwood is one of our favorite places, not because the food is great or it's priced well, but rather because we just have so much fun every time we go there!)

We just spent a lot more time playing, relishing every moment we could to be with each other.

A few years went by, and one day, a dear friend of mine from my childhood died suddenly playing softball. Literally dropped dead running between 1st and 2nd base. From a heart attack. She was 42.

Flash forward to 2013. On my way to Cincinnati with my brother one evening to enjoy a Reds game, we got a call that my Brother-In-Law had just suddenly died from a pulmonary embolism that afternoon. He was just over 50 years old.

A few weeks later, my best musical buddy -- the best musician I ever played with -- died in his living room from a heart attack. He was in great health. Died so suddenly they never even transported him to the hospital. Took him straight to the morgue. He was 47.

Six months later, my dearest friend in the whole world contracted the flu and died three days later. With the exception of my wife, he was my very best friend. A brother, spiritually and emotionally, virtually bound at the hip since we were in high school together. He was 42.

I miss them all tremendously. And through it all, the idea that time is precious and life is short was reinforced in both my wife and me stronger than ever before. Our dream was to move to an ocean, and all of the sudden, we realized if we didn't do it soon, at any time, we could lose the opportunity to do so.

Even after the decision was made, our home here was sold, and we were whiling away the time to move south in a simple, innocent little home we were renting from my mother, we were hit with a flood and lost half our possessions. There's an old adage that says all our best laid plans are good, "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise." That night, just over a year ago, quite literally and unexpectedly, the creek behind our house rose, in a way it hadn't in over 85 years.

And there was something else. In all the times we've spent vacationing at the ocean, my wife and I noticed something: There weren't a lot of retirement-aged people walking on the beach. Most of the people we saw were younger, full of life and vibrant. Healthy and active. And I finally decided: I want to walk on the beach and hold hands with my wife while I'm still young and healthy enough to do so. If I'd learned anything over the past several years, it was that tomorrow isn't promised. Now is the time.

So here we are, on the precipice of chasing our dream and making it come true. We're building our dream home, in our dream place. Not because we have an abundance of money, or that we've finally somehow "arrived." (I'm definitely not retiring!) Rather, just because we realized that if we ever want to make our dreams come true, now's as good a time as any, before it's too late. If you don't take the plunge, how can you ever get wet?

In some ways, I guess you could say, in part, this is our way of honoring all those dear friends and family we've lost. I'm sure if any of them had the chance, they'd tell us to go for it, and don't waste a day. I like to believe that, anyway. We're in charge of making our dreams come true. The health benefits are just a bonus!

Let me leave you with this: A few years ago, I read an article that impacted me so much, I printed it out and tacked it to the wall in my office. The only such article I'd ever done that with. It was titled, "The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying." It impacted me profoundly, even as I was already on the journey. #2 in particular got to me: I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

Wow. Doesn't that hit home? Sure, every decision we make carries consequences and requires certain sacrifices. And the reality is that we have to have a job, pay our bills, and provide for our families. But for us, the decision to play more meant we couldn't drive the nicest car, or buy the coolest stuff, or have the trendiest clothes. But we sure do have a lot of great memories. We spent a lot of awesome time together as a family. And I wouldn't trade a moment of any of it.

Now, we're moving on to the next chapter, ready to make brand new memories, and share them all with our expanding family.

And my encouragement to you is this: if you're reading this, chase that dream! Go for it. Don't let words of others talk you out of it. Don't make any excuses and don't have any regrets. Only you can make your dreams come true. And despite what this world might tell you, you can do it if you want to. You'll have to make sacrifices, and there will be consequences. But you can do it.

And you should do it now.

Epilogue: As of this writing, my wife and I are blowing off work tomorrow and heading to Cincy for a Reds game. Because when your son and his new wife call and say, "Hey Dad, you wanna meet us for a Reds game this weekend?" you go. You just go.

The answer is always yes.