swoon 11

I do not plan on retiring… partly because I fear I will never be able to afford to keep the lifestyle I like living…partly because I have no faith that the current administration will leave any of my social security money there for me…partly because I have a very nice situation where I do not commute and I can pretty much make my own hours (they tend to be 12 hour days, but I choose which hours to work)… partly because I think I would be so bored.

My mom once told me I needed to learn to play bridge and tennis… because it is the best way to meet new friends when you move to a new community. I am not moving. I see friends move out of our town and most are sad about it, they get used to it, but it isn’t the same. Greg walks two blocks to work and I want to walk to movies, really good restaurants, and grocery stores. I am here until I no longer want the responsibility of a house.

If and when we age out of this current situation, I have a plan. We are starting a small village with friends. We are getting a big piece of land, there will be tiny houses surrounding communal buildings. We can hire people for upkeep, landscaping, healthcare, cleaning, laundry, fitness, and cooking. We will also have tiny houses for young people, bringing youth into our village. Intergenerational goodness. Maybe they are all artists, needing a place to create. We will teach them, they will teach us. They will have patrons that help them by extending low housing costs, we will have young vibrant people around to keep us young. We will coexist.

One time when I was younger (and in a funk) someone told me to stop thinking about all of the reasons something could not happen. Think of a dream as something that would happen for sure. That one comment changed my life. If you think something can happen hard enough, long enough, stubbornly enough… at least part of it does come true. So…

I am retiring to a village of like-minded, amazing people, young and old. We will live in a tiny house community… enjoying togetherness.

Period.