Anonymous, Age 71
Reading your book after it was on a reading list at my recent 50th college reunion. I am blessed to have a healthy husband, wonderful friends locally and a family spread out across the country as well as a mid-nineties mother who lives far away.
Interestingly, recently I seem to be fixated on housing options as depicted on my new favorite TV shows: Fixer Upper, Treehouse Masters, and Tiny House Nation. (The latter has triggered an extremely satisfying multi-week clean-out of both of our bedroom closets.) While I would never choose Joanna Gaines’ style of decorating or live in a tree or downsize to 200 square feet, I am spending increasing amounts of time contemplating future housing options and not succeeding in finding any creative solutions locally. Luckily we have no plans now, but I do love to plan ahead.
Wow, a tiny house community, what a great motivation to purge and downsize. Books are next on my list to pass on to others.
We are deciding to reevaluate when we both are 75, four years away, or sooner if one of us becomes incapacitated in any way. The problem really is wanting to still be able to host that family Christmas celebration, which seems to involve four bedrooms –sleeping spaces for an additional seven.
Probably would be cheaper to downsize and take everyone on a trip or rent a house over the holidays.
Another issue is that newer housing, and certainly all the senior housing plans we have seen, just doesn’t have the closet and bookshelf space that we are so used to.
That’s where downsizing and simplifying comes in! We don’t need all our ‘stuff’ anymore; we want to collect experiences and adventures while we still can.
We’ve had garage sales and donated as much as we can so we’re ready to pack up and move whenever we find our next home. I’m enamoured by tiny houses (without a loft) and would enjoy being in a tiny house community. As Snowbirds, we travel in a very tiny trailer (Casita) so we know we can thrive in tiny spaces.
Good options for downsized or simplified housing just don’t seem to be commonly available for this stage of life, do they?
We have a wonderful home on an acreage and enjoy nature and the peace and quiet but it’s too much work and ties us down. But what’s next? A bungalow in town? Too noisy. A condo or apartment? Too claustrophobic. A park model or an RV? They depreciate.
The next step is a real unknown! Let us know what you decided to do.