Dear Annie: My wife and I both grew up in the Midwest. We traveled some after retirement and found a wonderful senior community in a much warmer climate state. We finally decided to move to that location to spend the winters. We were always worried about falling on the ice and snow at our Midwest location.

After a few years of being gone for the winter, we decided to make that place our permanent home. At first, our kids were very supportive and helped us move. They and our grandkids kept in touch with frequent phone calls and even visited once a year, sometimes more often. Sadly, after three years of living in our new home state, my wife of 60 years passed away due to a sudden illness.