Knowing that Sylvia and I were approaching our 60th anniversary, some friends asked us what were we planning for the occasion.
So, I thought sharing that answer more broadly in the community would be an appropriate subject for this regular column appearing here with every issue of this magazine.
The short version is that we have decided to sell our house and move into an apartment.
But, it’s not just any house and the apartment is not like any other in the city.
Our house has been our home for 50 years. It was designed by Sylvia and we built it as one of the first in our neighborhood as it was being developed.
The memories created in it have pretty much defined our life together.
Our three children grew up here, we’ve celebrated almost every one of those special occasions ranging from family birthdays to Christmas times, hosting countless visits from our families across the country, and friends throughout those years.
Our parents, all now in heaven, often shared our home with us and those times with them unfolded here as well.
As we begin to gather our collections of thousands of photos, videos, letters, notes, gifts, cards, and much more accumulated over those five decades of life in this home, all of those are reminders of how blessed we are.
Looking back, I’m hoping I did a decent job of expressing gratitude to all those who have shared their lives and occasions with us but fear I fell short way too many times.
And that doesn’t begin to describe what it has been like, from our home as sort of a base of operations, for both of us to have engaged in the life of this great city through our several roles volunteering in its political and public life.
Throughout many community service and non-profit organizations in which we have been privileged to take part, sometimes meeting in our home, we have helped in pursuing their various missions designed to serve the needs of others and to make our hometown better.
Departing will not be easy as such plans have been developed after a couple of years of decision-making that has led to what we are anticipating as a positive change for the years ahead.
That will unfold in our new residence that is about one-third the size of the one we will be leaving. And, it comes with none of the responsibilities of the care, upkeep, and management of home ownership.
It is one of the 300 apartment units in the spectacular One Rangers Way multi-family development nearing completion in Arlington’s expansive entertainment district.
Ours is an end unit on the first level literally steps away from the Richard Greene Linear Park, a few more steps across Nolan Ryan Expressway to the home plate entrance of The Ballpark in Arlington, now known as Choctaw Stadium, and a few more to Globe Life Field to use our season tickets to see our World Champion Texas Rangers.
And, that puts us in easy proximity to everything else that helps to define our city including the two magnificent Loews Hotels, The Arlington Convention Center, Texas Live!, the new restaurants among them all, AT&T Stadium, and the coming attraction of the National Medal of Honor Museum.
All of that serves as a daily reminder of the forward-looking voters who repeatedly set the city’s largest economy and our national prominence into being.
We also will be just down the street from the place we chose for our wedding trip exactly 60 years ago – Six Flags Over Texas. That’s when, from our homes in Monroe, Louisiana, we discovered Arlington.
Occupancy at One Rangers Way is planned for January. Between now and then, we have a herculean task of getting ready after deciding what will fit in the new space and handing off whatever of our possessions wanted by family members. We’ll put the rest in an estate sale, then deliver what’s left to Mission Arlington, and finally place our home of 50 years on the market.
Although quite the venture, we’re eagerly anticipating getting it all done and spending our future years in a whole new, yet very familiar, living environment.
Arlington will be our home forevermore – just with a new address.
Richard Greene is a former
mayor of Arlington.
