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Episode 934 Moving to be close to children
This is Retirement Talk. I’m Del Lowery.
My mother never drove a car – except way back before they required a driver’s license. She was dependent on one of her children to take her to the grocery store, the doctor, or to see her relatives. She was lucky in that she lived in a small town and could walk to her pharmacy, her church, and her friend’s houses. She was a pretty independent woman but as she grew older the need for some assistance was clear. One or more of her children provided that help. She was fortunate. Fortunate in more ways than one: she celebrated holidays, birthdays, times of trouble, and moments of joy with her family –at least part of it.
Brenda and I both drive. We bike, lift weights, practice Tai Chi and walk where we will. We are not in need of assistance at the present. But, we are feeling the need, or desire, for family more each day. My wife constantly talks of trips to see the grandchildren. She has a compulsive drive to always check in and see how the little ones are doing. She calls them. She makes them gifts; buys them gifts. She makes them cards. She sends them pictures. She asks for pictures. As one grows older the family ties seem to be ever more valuable. We have achieved the life dreams of house, car, furniture, trips to foreign lands, etc. We start to realize that they really no longer draw us like they once did. The desire for family grows stronger each day. There is something about blood. We want a chance to sit down with our own son, and daughter, and to share in their lives and the lives of the grandchildren. We want to help, and we want to celebrate.
This dilemma is starting to become personal in my own life. What’s a person to do? Move? Leave the community that you know and follow your children across the country? Or, perhaps encourage your children to move back to your community. That doesn’t seem like a very wise nor fair thing to do.
All moves are fraught with problems. For our kids to move families in our direction it would mean finding new jobs; not the easiest thing in the world. They have established careers and homes where they are. It is not an easy task to pick up and move an entire family over a thousand miles. As for us moving, that is much easier. We are retired. We could easily sell out and hit the road. The problem there is that we chose this place to live after our working careers ended because it was such a desirable place to live. We would have to give that up. That could be done. It would just require a mental adjustment to fit the physical move. At this point in time, that is starting to look like a very likely possibility.
We are lucky in that one of our children has already decided to make a move. After her children reached college age she packed up and moved this way. Her job allows for her to live almost anywhere. She now lives in the lower level of our house. It has been a dream come true for us. She provides us with that strong family tie that is so very desirable. We love the arrangement and I’m sure it will only get more important as we age. And now just this week our son bought a place just a few miles from us. We will soon be living close. Our luck holds.
I recall a story I heard from my brother who was on a bike trip in the Rockies. He said he struck up a conversation with another fellow traveler in a small Wyoming town up in the mountains. They were all retired. The stranger told of having moved to be close to her children. Then the job transfer came and the children moved. She followed. Then it happened again. Her advice, “Never move to follow your children. Their lives are young and may yet move them in many directions. It is a losing cause.”
I’m reluctant to make a change. Her argument makes sense to me. So, the dilemma remains. Modern life demands mobility for education and employment. The family is uprooted. The extended family is a casualty. It all seems pretty academic until it happens to you. Suddenly, one day, it all becomes very personal.
Let me know if you have faced this dilemma. I will be glad to pass your comments along to listeners. Maybe there is a solution that many of you have already discovered.
For Retirement Talk, this is Del Lowery.
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