Monday, August 02, 2010

Ah, retirement

Our son's two oldest children, both in their twenties, check in on us often.  Arick only gets one day off work (Monday), but he usually manages to spend at least a couple of hours with us; I try to fix something for dinner I know he will like on Mondays.  
Amber spends a Saturday night with us about once a month; she's a rather picky eater, but I always know I can make her happy by fixing pancakes for her breakfast on Sunday morning.  She was here this past weekend and watched part of "Woodstock" with me; I have it recorded on the DVR and was watching it in installments when Cliff wasn't in the house (he has no interest in Woodstock).  
Watching that documentary movie led to discussions of drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll; we had quite a conversation, let me tell you.  
And then I told her about our plans for Cliff to hopefully retire next year.  She expressed shock, just as her brother did when I told him.  
"I think we can manage to keep the place for five to ten years after he retires, if nothing catastrophic happens," I told her.  
"What do you mean?"
Inflation, I explained, will tighten our budget gradually (or not so gradually); we won't be able to stay here forever.  
"What will you do with this place?" she asked, still taken aback.  
"We'll sell the place, have an auction and sell a most of the machinery, and rent a little place in a smallish town somewhere, maybe Richmond.  Of course, our health might require us to do something before that anyhow; at our ages, there are so many things that can surprise you:  strokes, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's... your grandpa has already had heart surgery."   
I guess Amber thought we'd just be here forever, out behind the barn.  
Ideally, what I'd hope for if we're forced out of our home by inflation would be a place in town with room for Cliff to store his John Deere; he could clear snow off driveways in winter and plow gardens for people in spring, not so much for the money, but because he loves to do things with a tractor.  
Because I just can't see Cliff without a tractor.   
But you know what they say about the best-laid plans.

6 comments:

  1. Plans are great and we do need to make them, but being flexible is a necessity too. My plans are always changing and sometimes not to my liking but living day by day and in the present helps. I usually plan to spend most of my Monday at the camper but today is supposed to be in the 90's again so I'm going to pack up and go home early before I need to turn the air on here. It's 77 degrees already. Hope your Monday is a great one.

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  2. I'm finding that life is like a giant balloon. You're real excited to have it when you're young and you spend alot of time and energy blowing it up full with family and friends and stuff until one day you look at it and think "That's an awfully big balloon."
    I guess the key is letting air out slowly.

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  3. I hope everything works out for yall's retirement! I wish you both a very long happy retirement.

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  4. My sentiments exactly. Our idea of 'forever' tends to change as we age.

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  5. Vicki9:53 AM

    Arick and Amber think as 20 somethings think,it was exactly how I thought. Cliff is so right, our prospectives change as our "forever" changes. I so relate to this post, it is right on. Vicki

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  6. Anything could happen in the future, but it's good to have plans in place, then adjust as needed.

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