Downsizing - it sounds so simple.....

But it is not..... 

It is an option that everyone faces when planning for retirement. On paper, it makes absolute sense.... two of us occupying a house that is much too big for our needs.... a lot of extra expense, extra work. 

But a house is is far more than what appears on paper...more than a balance sheet and much more than bricks and mortar. It represents memories of kids, pets, holidays and family celebrations.

At this point, downsizing is not in our immediate future. We could change our minds. My hope is that I have decades left in my house - that I am carried out feet first having had the opportunity to build many more years of family memories within these walls.

My friend, Shawn, said it best when he wrote about the importance of a house. When his Father had to move out of their family home, Shawn penned a letter about the story of the house and hid it in the attic to be found by other owners.

When Shawn's Dad passed away this past Fall, he read the letter during the funeral. Subsequently, this letter was published in the Reader's Digest. .

So on this St. Patrick's Day, my hat's off to my Irish Canadian friend Shawn and his beautiful letter about what a house really means...

from his letter::

"Our house was filled with unfetterd freedom-probably too much freedom. Our parents chose this house because it was close to schools, the arena and church - in that order. Most waking hours of our youth were spent at the arena, school and church - in that order. Most of us worked at the... arena at some point...we held our family Christmas dinner there every year, including a hockey game - no helmets allowed... We had fun in that house. It was the site of countless road hockey games, fights, lacrosse games, backyard ice rinks, swingsets and tree climbing. The driveway was home to crappy cars, motorcycles, gocarts, boats, trailers and served as a parking spot for friends when the arena lot was full. Our neighbours included families that were Irish, Italian, French and British all living in harmony. We grew up without a care in the world and walked ourselves to school from the time we were in kindergarten...... That's not to say we didn't have our challenging times. It was this place where our parents told us that our brother had died and it was where our mother went to the hospital and never returned. But it was also where we wanted for nothing and really didn't worry about tomorrow. We hope whoever owns this house next will build their own memories and one day,pass it on to a family that appreciates the fact that while a house may be temporary, the memories you have of the time spent in that house last forever."

Monday Morning March 10: With glowing hearts..

We do most of our living between Friday night and Monday morning.  Monday morning is the time to reflect on the weekend and get back into our week day routine . As I get older it becomes more difficult to get myself  moving on Monday morning.   I guess that is part of what retirement planning is about - letting go of the weekday routine and spreading the rest of your life over seven days!

Monday, March 10, 2014

With glowing hearts... a phrase from our national anthem that
describes the pride of a nation.

As a rule, Canadians are not overtly patriotic people.  Ours is a more quiet patriotism.   It is rare to experience a Canadian boastful about our country.


 However when it comes to hockey our patriotic blood boils over.   At the Olympics Canadians are the most vocal and demonstrative hockey fans.  When I was at the World Junior tournament in Buffalo,  the  Canadians attending burst into singing O'Canada , our national anthem while standing in line to get in to the arena!

Last weekend, after the Olympics were over , I was sitting in the mezzanine at our local public market.   An adult choir was setting up to perform   On a busy market day, the entertainment on the mezzanine level is always somewhat background ambiance to the normal activity of the merchants and the shoppers.

But this choir started with  O' Canada.  Very unusual.  It was very moving to watch from my second floor
location, the market slowly become still.  First, the persons on the mezzanine sitting at tables all  stood. The people on the first floor they couldn't see the choir, but as the music travelled down to the first floor, shoppers stopped in the middle of the aisles, parents picked up their toddlers and paused, shopkeepers stopped and bowed their head.   The normal chaos of the market became very quiet except for the choir singing.

I love Olympic and World Junior hockey and no one is a bigger fan of our Canadian hockey teams than me.
However when that bustling public market became quietly and respectfully still, it was more moving than tens of thousands of fans, with painted faces waving flags.