Christmas, 2011

Happy Holidays, One & All,

All of the Sauvageau/Sauyet/Nason clan are still in good health, with my mom turning 98 in 2 months. She still lives in her one-room-with-benefits (meals, cleaning, laundry, etc. done for her and good friends to spend time with) at Havenwood/Heritage Heights in Concord, NH.

Since Mom doesn’t fly, none of us thought she would ever get here to see our new home. However, my sister Marty was willing and able to take her on a road trip, so in late October they made the 1500 mile drive down here to Ocala to visit us! We all had a wonderful time, and they arrived back in New Hampshire two weeks and two days later, exhausted but exhilarated!

As you may remember from last year’s letter, we were trying out the 6-months-in-Florida/5-or-6-months-in-Maine lifestyle for a year.

We decided we like it! So, in April, we headed back to CT where we spent the next two months sorting, cleaning, packing, pitching and giving away the accumulation of forty-two years in one house. We put the house on the market June 18th, and, much to our disappointment, so far the house hasn’t sold. In this economy and with so many foreclosed and short-sale houses on the market, I guess we’ll just have to be patient.

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
5606 SW 58th St.
Ocala, FL 34474
(352) 873-4301

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
295 Sebago Rd. Lot 26
Naples, ME 04055


Cell phones:
    Dick: (203) 512-2057
    Gee: (203) 744-4193

Email addresses:
    geesauvageau@hotmail.com
    dicksauvageau@hotmail.com

Once we got our house market-ready we headed up to Maine for the summer as volunteer campground hosts at our beloved Sebago Lake State Park. However, even that was different this year. The new manager decided he wanted more work with fewer perks than in the past. He made it clear that anyone who didn’t like all the new rules, regulations and extra work was free to leave. After much soul searching and with a heavy heart we decided that it was time for us to move on.

In driving through one of the private parks in the area looking for a seasonal site, we happened to see a park-model trailer for sale. Long story, short – we bought it, spent the next month sorting, cleaning, packing, pitching and giving stuff away AGAIN and moved in August 4th!

A park model trailer is still movable, but not as easily. Ours has a peaked roof, is 11’x34’, has a loft over half the interior and has a 9’x25’ 3-season addition. It really feels much more like a house than a trailer, and will undoubtedly serve us better in the long run than the 5th wheel trailer we were in for the previous 3 summers. Also, we can leave it where it is year-round, so we don’t have to pay to have it towed and stored elsewhere each year.

Our new home is not on a lake, but does have a very nice heated pool and is only 2 miles from the state park. The owners of the campground are wonderful, provide lots of activities and even have free passes to the day-use area of the park for when we need a Sebago “fix”.

The grandkids are all fine. Teddy and Kayleigh are now 15 and 12 respectively and continue to be active in school, sports and just life, in general. Ayden and Alea are 8 and 3 and manage to keep themselves and their parents busy. Alden and Ethan are 6 and 4, and are in the process of going through some difficult changes.

After 11 years Cristy is through trying to make the marriage work. She has moved into her own apartment, is looking for a job, and is trying to share the parenting duties equally with Tim. Their divorce is due to be final 2 days after Christmas. She would like to be on the east coast where most of her family live, but she won’t leave the kids behind and doesn’t want to take them 3000 miles away from their dad. At the moment, none of them is happy, but they are all trying to make it work.

Needless to say, we are very sad for all of them – and for ourselves. We love Cristy, and know that making a marriage work isn’t easy. We are trying to be supportive of both of them. Meanwhile, we are living our own lives split between Florida and Maine. Down south Dick is golfing 2-3 times a week; we’re square dancing three times a week; I’m paper-crafting whenever I can and leading water aerobics three times a week, and we both manage to find one or two other social activities to keep us busy. Up north we haven’t managed to establish as much of a routine, but I suspect we will next summer.

Happy holidays to all of you,

Dick & Gee