photo by Hannah Reel

Rosie Sullivan sits on her newly built front porch with granddaughter Brooke Collier, 5, Saturday afternoon at her home on Palestine Road.

Natchez couple builds porch, invests in future

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, October 26, 2009

NATCHEZ — Rosie Sullivan would rather be in her yard.

That’s where The Dart found her Saturday when it landed on Palestine Road.

Sullivan, who retired from one nursing job to start another one, spends a lot of time working at Natchez Community Hospital. Her husband, Robert, retired from the Natchez Police Department to work for the U.S. Marshals Service.

It’s not a traditional retirement, Sullivan admitted, but the couple is working on their retirement home, removing old siding and replacing it with cedar and building a porch that stretches all the way across the front of the house.

“This is the type of home we wanted for our retirement,” she said, grinning wryly. “Hopefully one day we can sit out here and not work.”

The plans are simple — a ranch style house with carports on both ends, a pool in back and a porch in front on which the couple will spend a lot of time.

The porch will serve a dual purpose when the Sullivans’ granddaughter, 5-year-old Brooke Collier, comes over.

“She can ride her bicycle on the porch when it is raining out here,” Sullivan said. “That’s what she’s doing today.”

In the meantime, just getting things done has provided the couple with plenty of opportunity to escape the work world, one day at a time.

“It’s a prime opportunity to be able to enjoy ourselves on the weekend,” Sullivan said.

Even while work is going on, Sullivan is taking the opportunity to fully own her new porch.

Saturday, she was decorating it for Halloween with caged ghouls and spiderwebs, and she said next month she plans to decorate it with fall wreaths.

In fact, she plans to decorate it for every holiday, and the additional frontage the new construction will give the house might come in particularly useful when December rolls around.

“There’s a lady around the corner, she and I kind of compete for Christmas decorations,” Sullivan said. “She usually beats me, but we’ll see this year.”