Retiree’s Dilemma: To Move or Not to Move (closer to the kids)
We’re renting a cute little house in the middle of
Gainesville for the summer. I know, I know, the worse time to live in
Gainesville, Florida. Even though it is really, really hot in south Florida, at
least we have those Atlantic breezes. Not here. And it hasn’t even started to
get brutally hot yet. But the purpose of coming up here wasn’t to experience
the weather; it was to see how it feels to live near our grown, busy children.
The assured us that they would love to have us closer, and so far, after over a
month, they have done nothing to make us think otherwise. In fact, they seem
quite pleased that we are here. They stop by on their ways to various places
and they arrange to meet up with us for meals, movies, etc. And we have a good
time.
Good times aside, an unexpected side effect of this move has
made me more introspective than usual. (See the above post). Not having a job
that demanded my creative efforts to engage and entertain bored remedial
college students probably has something to do with it, but also just breaking
out of the routine and waking up somewhere else every day contributes to my
relentless inner murmurings. So far this blog thing has proved above my skill
set; I haven’t gotten it “out there” because I don’t know how, really. I haven’t
posted pictures, videos, or even made it very dynamic. Maybe I’ll learn that –
later. For now, it’s just the inner musings going on.
I have a lot less time to roam this planet than I already
spent here, and even though I know that at every level, I don’t think too much
about what I want to do with the time I have left. Mostly I was putting one
foot in front of the other, happy to have a job that kept my brain alive and to
be able to interact with people I respected and enjoyed, for the most part.
There are even some notable students that have made what I do seem worth it.
(Here’s to you Jimmy, wherever you are.) It’s easy to stick with what you know.
So here’s the question: If you have made a major move in
your golden years – one that brought you closer to your loved ones rather than
farther away from them – how did that work out for you? If you gave up a job
that at least made you feel…useful/productive, do you miss it? Did you find
something else that was able to challenge you and keep your brain from rotting
in your skull? Did your relationships with said loved ones blossom or wither?
Did you find out things you’d rather have not known, or do you feel grateful to
have added insight into the personalities of the people they became? Were you
able to resist the impulse to interfere in their lives or not so much? What do you think?