New Year

​Vacation is over. Flying back to Seattle now. We have consumed far too many sweets. My belly has grown. Maybe we shouldn’t call something delicious if it makes you feel like a bloated cow.

It was wonderful to catch up with friends. I’ve known many of them for years, decades really. Together we’ve gone through many of life's challenges.

We spent as much time with GM as we could. Her husband passed away last July. She has recovered well, though this is her first Christmas as a widow. Her husband didn’t have a will. This has slowed down probate. Financially, she’s OK, but the extra delays are frustrating.

My husband and I also don’t have a will either. There is a draft that we’ve been kicking around for over a year. We need to get that done.

A few of us are also starting to experience parents who have aged to the point where they struggle to take care of themselves. No easy solutions here. We can only patiently support each other through the heartbreak of watching your parents in the last decade of their lifes.

My husband and I are also having good discussions around where we want to retire. It won’t be Toronto. Perhaps we’ll stay there now and then when the weather is pleasant. Winter is too cold and gray.

We are within three or four years of having enough savings that retirement won’t be a financial shock. We still have to answer the question “What will we do with our time? What shall we do with our lives?” A life with little more than travel and socializing would drive me nuts. So, here I am in my fifties reasking that age-old question “What is the meaning of life?” Perhaps I am better able to tackle that question now than I was in my youth. Nonetheless, the question still stands