The best place to retire is here!

Area residents don’t need to Google best places to retire, because we already live here. CBS on May 10 named Rehoboth Beach No. 6 in the top 10 beach towns for retirees. The Wall Street Journal says 10,000 baby boomers will retire each day. And based on the amount of new development we encounter on our roadways, it seems they are taking over the pastures like a gaggle of snow geese.

My husband Ray recalls how quaint the city of Gaithersburg, Md., was when we met and married there in 1979. By the time we left that city in 1995, everyone was up in arms about the traffic and the overdevelopment. My first article in the local paper The Gaithersburg Gazette was titled The Etiquette of the One-Lane Bridge. Shouldn’t there be some rule as to how many cars are allowed to pass at a time while one lone vehicle waits its turn?

We are all here for the same reasons: lower taxes, proximity to the beach, moderate temperatures, recreation, shopping and fine dining which rivals major cities everywhere! Many of us left our families, our children and grandchildren in area states of Maryland, northern Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and want to be able to see them. We spent our childhood vacations here and might have experienced our first kiss on the Boardwalk in front of Dolle’s. His name was Allen and he had curly blonde hair. I digress. My point is that if you like living here, why shouldn’t more retired folks come on down if the price is right.

I heard from one reader named Linda in Breakwater who wrote, “I totally enjoy your writing, and so wish you were here when we first retired and moved here, as we were wandering around aimlessly for quite a while!! Your tips are spot-on and your column is engaging! I hope you are settled in your new home now, and get to meet a lot of new neighbors and friends in Senators! That is one of the lifesavers, moving into a new neighborhood with so many wonderful people.”

Thanks, Linda! I love living here and have met so many wonderful neighbors. I just can’t tell you their names. I have met three Marys and three Lindas and they are paired with husbands like Rich, Steve, Jim and Bob. I am trying a mnemonic device to improve my memory. I met the next-door neighbors and walked home confidently thinking J and J, but by the time I got to my front door and greeted my husband, I stood dead in my tracks and stuttered: “Jane. No. Judy. No. Janet. His name was Joe; I know it.” Anyway, Joyce and Jack seem like lovely people.

Last night a group of Lindas met at the clubhouse for arts and crafts (that’s what seniors do now that we have left lucrative, important careers) and neighbor Beth taught us how to make a giant paper snowflake. I arrived late and needed help with scissors, and several Marys came to my rescue - even cutting tape for me like we were in second grade together. Who cares if anyone makes fun of us; we won’t remember them anyway. I do know for certain that the chair of the social committee is Kathleen from Gaithersburg who wants to be called Kathy, and she is doing a great job welcoming in the new fledglings.