Wow, what a sad story. I hope the ending holds an anticipated happy twist. Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.
The boss and I owned a real nice little place on one acre right on the Tippecanoe River in Indiana. It was absolutely gorgeous. 190 ft of frontage, the river was about 300 ft wide in front of us, heavily timbered with mature oaks and maples. It was killer...heaven on earth...but it was only an acre and we had neighbors. We sold it a year ago to buy wooded acreage and build a pond. Kind of a reverse of your decision. Why did we do it? We wanted seclusion, elbow space, a beautiful water feature, and no noticeable neighbors.
...One man's meat, another man's poison.
Wish ya only the very best.