Our News

In the deepest recesses of my heart, I’ve been longing for a change. Something big, radical, totally different. I wrestled with the idea and it pinned me and held me down. I tried to talk myself out of it but I found it was a better debater. My husband was on board from the start. But how would that change look? What would it take to make it happen?

We put everything on the table. Ideas included moving to Italy or France and buying one of those crumbling castles they sell for pennies on the dollar to someone who’ll fix them up. After dismissing that, we looked closely at a B and B for sale in Cape Breton. Then we nixed the B and B idea and started searching for places closer to London, where we could live mortgage-free. That meant we couldn’t stay in this city unless we wanted to move into a condo. Frankly, I could get into that but Derek is a workshop guy, so London was out.  On our trip to St. Stephen, New Brunswick in May, we purchased a house! A few weeks later, we un-purchased it. It was a square peg for a round hole. Close, but no cigar. A sandwich short of a picnic. We were trying too hard.

In June, as I continued to dither, our dear friend Kerry died of cancer. It seemed impossible. The most joyful, positive, sweetest light in our lives, extinguished. A couple of months later, my warm and wonderful colleague Jodi Taylor died suddenly. Our last conversation was about what we’d be like as old ladies. It hit me hard. How much longer would I dream about making this change, but not actually do it?

On weekends, we found ourselves drawn to the St. Clair river and other points west of London. We also looked along Lake Huron and at rural and commercial properties but the water kept calling us back. We toured a gaggle of homes from Sombra to Courtright. The realtor.ca app got a workout on my phone. We were just about to resignedly put an offer on a total fixer-upper. It had a view of the river but needed everything, from new appliances to a garage. Then, a seemingly too-good-to-be-true home in Wallaceburg came on the market. We quickly booked a showing and it turned out to be exactly as advertised. We won a little bidding war and we’re moving to Wallaceburg! (It’s about an hour west of London.)

How’s this for coincidence? The house was owned by my former MIX 999 colleague, Lee Marshall and his wife, Lucy.  A couple of my favourite people, Robyn Brady and former 680 News colleague Bill Cole, work at the Wallaceburg radio station. The house is close to a walking trail along a river. It needs some fresh paint but little else and it’s on a quiet street. Wallaceburgers have been friendly and welcoming. Our lawyer there is the former Mayor. So, it’s happening. In fact, we already bought it.

Our new place - brick front with a two car garage, two storey home. Has steel roof and dormers on the front

Our London house is for sale and we hope it goes quickly. Last week was the final push of de-cluttering, packing, moving some stuff to the new house and keeping the London property ridiculously clean. We plan to come back to London regularly. There are so many people here that we love. Who knows what the future will bring? But it feels right and we’ll never know if we don’t give it a try.

But wait – there’s more!

Rialta motorhome looks like a large van. White with tan and brown stripes. The side has a bit of a bump-out and you can see a short air conditioning unit on the top.

Derek bought us a motorhome. It’s a previously enjoyed Rialta, in excellent shape and sized just right for two humans and a cat. We took Miss Sugar out for a test run last week during the agent’s open house at our house. We drove around a little bit and then parked by the Thames, pulled the blinds and took a family nap.  She did very well. She stopped screeching after half an hour or so, used the litterbox, and even ate a little.

Miss Sugar lying down in the hallway of the motorhome, looking calm, with her front paws crossed in a ladylike manner

On a second trip yesterday, to Port Stanley, she settled in even more. Longer trips are in our future and we’ll see if we’re the RV people we think we are.

For a long while, I’ve been working hard to stifle a voice in my head telling me I can’t make this change. I finally silenced that voice and kept my engine in a forward gear. I’ve told you how far Wallaceburg is from London so you know my job has to change, too. More about that, tomorrow.

15 thoughts on “Our News”

  1. Congrats Lisa! We will surely miss you! But so happy for you as you follow your heart and dreams! Happy trails and adventuring and blessings.

  2. Good for you. If I have realized one thing, and yes, the passing of Kerry is a reminder, life is too short to put dreams on hold. My husband and I don’t have a lot of money and our friends probably envy/think we are crazy, but we have been travelling the last 5 years – N. S., Dominican, Jamaica, twice to Costa Rica (both 5-6 months) and now we are in Mexico for 6 months.

    Sometimes, you just have to do what YOU want and forge ahead. And today, so much can be accomplished in front of your computer for those who think they are tied to their work.

    Good luck! The house sounds wonderful.

  3. Lisa, Your good fortune will be a huge loss to me and of course your faithful listeners in and around the London
    area.
    Your good banter with Ken, and both of your upbeat views on day to day topics kept us listening and usually put a smile on
    the drudgery of having to get up and get going for the day.
    Kudos to your producers too!

    But before I sign off here, did you graduate the Fanshawe Radio Broadcast program? Barry Sarazin, the Program coordinator and was a colleaugue of mine? Barry was a fine broadcaster and a great teacher who loved the biz.
    Hope to hear your good voice back here in good old London sometime in the future.
    A faithful listener!
    Brent Germain

    1. Hi Brent,
      I didn’t go to Fanshawe but my husband did so we were hanging out with some of his ol’ classmates on the weekend. It was the 40th anniversary of The X, the radio station there.
      I really appreciate you being with us as a listener and I have a bunch of plans bubbling around in my brain! I’ll let everyone know, once they’ve solidified.
      Meantime, I think you’re going to love my replacement on CJBK. Stephanie “Viv” Vivier is smart, talented, funny – all of those great things. She and Ken worked together before. They’ll be great!
      Lisa

  4. Lissa Fraser Kerr

    Yay!!!!!
    We’re going north. Waaaaaaaaay north. Lake Superior 8 hours away driving north.
    But only an hour and a half on Porter Airlines… enough time for the free glass of wine!

    Congratulations, Lisa! I hope the adjustments for work/life are painless for you.
    Lissa

  5. Congratulations on your move and new life. I hope you are as happy with your decision as we are with our choice to come to BC. Life can become quite mundane as we follow a day to day routine in surroundings so familiar we begin to sleepwalk through our existence.

    I don’t know how long you have lived in London but I’m sure you’ll agree that it isn’t the same city as when you came to it. It’s grown more like a weed rather than a rose bush.

    You very well may be posing the same question to yourselves as we did. Has London outgrown us or did we outgrow London? We made the decision to come to BC 6 years or so ago. After 37 years in London, we are here about a year earlier than we thought we might be. Abbotsford is about half of London’s size. Wallaceburg’s quite a bit smaller as I remember it.

    I hope you and Derek are as happy in your new home as Dascha and I are in ours.

    Best of luck my friends.

  6. Lisa,
    Erin put me on to your blog.
    You write it like it is and it touches a nerve. I now know why many seniors are so grumpy, they are tired of tip toeing around the bs
    We have not decided where the move will be in our future but have purchased the motorhome. See you down the to road

  7. Congratulations on your new adventure my friends. It’s been a great pleasure for Rich and I to get to know you both. Thank you for your faith in us and your friendship. Also, thank you for inviting us into your home and lives. We appreciate all of your great support and advice. Purrs and cuddles to your fur baby. Best of luck in your new hometown. Hug hugs Deborah and Rich Hunter

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