What are your plans, dreams, and fantasies for your post-caregiving life?
I own a 1925 Craftsman bungalow in Oregon - on a nice tree-lined street, walking distance from everything. I will move there, and work in my garden, and my kids and grandkids will come visit me. Maybe I'll do some travelling - Italy, France, Greece, Great Britain, Turkey. I'll take Latin at the community college and shop at the farmer's market.
I have a friend, who just lost her DH a not long ago. second marriage, no kids/shes in her sixties/ she is quite well off and she just had a whole body makeover and called me from her hospital room, after she recouped enough, she is heading towards alaska to visit the places of the last trip they shared together, then from there shes going around the world for a yr. just joining up on various excursions along the way. i could do that i think when my grieving had subsided - divvi
I want to move to my little cottage at the beach when I retire. Hubby and I had plans to rebuild on the lot, but that won't happen. However, I will be content in the little cottage. I hope to do some volunteer work and maybe have a part time job. My kids and g-kids will spend a lot of time w/me in the summer. I can visit them in the off season. Smile.
If we are talking about dreams, I am right there with you, a cottage on a lake or ocean would suit me just fine! But if we are talking reality, that isn't gonna happen. I haven't yet given it any serious thought. But I imagine I would pick up with what I was doing before Lynn got sick.
I am disabled, and I was a group leader for a support group, as well as a "life line" phone support consultant. I also was lobbying and really involved with trying to find a cure for type one/ juvenile diabetes and my diseases. I imagine I will do that again, but add Alzheimer's to the list. I also use to visit the VA nursing home, I am not sure if I could do that again. I think it might be too painful. Though since my Dad's passing my niece has asked if she could go to the VA and "adopt a grampa" Heart of gold that one. Other than that, I imagine I will keep on keeping on............
Somehow, I want to get to Greece and see Rhodes, where my mother's family came from. I want to go to the Turkish mainland and see the place she was born and where her father was born.
I want to go to Myrtle Beach, SC. Live in a condo on the beach and join bluedaze on the patio for coffee and waves. Actually I love the cottage on the beach too.But in all actuality I will be trying to do all the things I have wanted to do ...... you know, the I never had the time stuff. Like write a book, dance like no ones watching, finish watching movies I have seen half of. Maybe drink a full cup of coffee while its still hot. Go back and see my friends in Florida that I miss so much.
Mary, you are clever, what a great name. But please tell me I don't have to do the fat farm first. Couldn't we have a special little room set up as a gym, encourage each other to exercise and eat well, take care of improving our physical as well as emotional health AT the SO Sweet Club? Seems to me that's part of the "SO" part.
Beenthere...where in Oregon? I don't recall seeing you in the PNW area when we posted our whereabouts? I'm just barely east of Portland...Happy Valley..getting rather embarrasing to say that.
beenthere, A craftsman bungalow? Count me in,I've always loved them!! Watch for them on HGTV --just fascinating. I want to sit on the front porch with a cup of coffee chatting with you. We all need our dreams. Ann
Cindy and I loved to travel, particularly cruises. I will do a solo cruise in her memory and tip a glass of champagne at each of our favorite ports of call. I will travel to San Francisco and have lunch at Scoma’s and remember all the great times we had there and I will take in a Broadway play……Oh how she loved New York! I hate this disease and how all these wonderful joys of live have been taken from her. DickS
Since we are dreaming, how about renting a cottage in Sicily say for about 1 month and sleep, eat, drink a little vino, driving around the beautiful island and start all over the next day , sleep, eat........
My house is in Salem, OR (couldn't quite afford what I wanted in Portland) which is in the middle of the Willamett valley - known for it's Pinot Noir. Salem is a little funky, but up and coming. I bought the house a few years ago, when I thought my husband would still be with me, but I still hold the dream of being able to retire there.
Love the idea of Sicily. While we're at it, why not a villa in Tuscany or an apartment in Venice?
well talking about cruising, to the mediterranean, venice, coast of the almalfi and capri, then on to the greek isles, theres a perfect 15day cruise which i have done and would do in a heartbeat again. this very well could be a reality someday maybe lots of us?, like a postcaregiver cruise where we throw plates and drink lots of red antioxidant wine along the way -and try to pick up the peices not of the plates but of our lives. divvi
bluedaze, we may have to develop a little enclave, with several bungalows grouped together, to accommodate all the SO Sweeties. Certainly, orchids would be wonderful, there are soooooooo many gorgeous varieties. I've often thought about trying to grow them, but my thumb is pretty brown even for extremely hardy plants. I promise not to help care for yours! I'll take on one of your chores, instead, so I can enjoy your orchids, too.
The cruise sounds great - I love the Amalfi Coast, especially love Sorrento. Actually, Tuscany, Venice, Sicily, the cruise - any of them is just fine with me. Actually, my husband (and some family members) had trip planned this past March - 1 week in Sicily, 1 week in Tuscany, and 1 week in Verona area but then my husband fell, hit his head and had to have surgery to remove blood from brain, so the trip was canceled and tthen he AZ started escallating.
Nothing has been the same since.
Sunshyne, I have an orchid in my office of which I have been trying to get it to bloom - great roots but no bloom yet.
I want to do many of the things that have been put on hold for the last few years. The home things of knitting, reading, sewing, reading, crafts - did I say reading, gardening, entertaining, etc.
I also want to do more theater and some traveling.
The other two things that I am toying with is training dogs for various needs - hearing, wheel chair, and other things beyond the seeing eye type of dog and therapy dogs. I cannot believe the difference I see in the people where my husband is when I bring the dog to visit.
Of course, I also want to do more learning on the technical side for my job as retirement is about 10 years down the road. I have had to choose to not take assignments because they would require more than I could do while he is alive. I want some of those challenges.
I daydream about getting back into sporting clays with my beautiful 12 gauge shotguns and traveling around Texas to the matches. I had to give that up several years ago. Maybe I will enroll in seniorfriendfinder.com in the post wife M era. Or maybe I will just mow the grass and continue daydreaming.
I'll wave at you from my cruise ship as we head north to go through the fjords of Norway. DH wanted to make that trip. Never did. Now, I don't think he could do that. He talks about it quite a bit but quickly forgets.
Mary --- View this web site http://www.mynsca.com/CMS/NSCADisplayPage.aspx for the details of trap, skeet and sporting clays shooting sports. They are all similar, just different games with different rules. Both men and women participate. A fun way to spend the day.
C, I enjoyed the website! Thank you. I remember many years ago when my husband took me to a firing range, and even though I followed the instructions, by the time we got home, my shoulder was sore. It hurt for several days afterwards, so I decided that the pain wasn't worth the fun! I can appreciate others enjoyment of the sport!
Mary --- The trend nowadays is to use gas operated semi-auto shotguns, which have a really soft recoil even in 12 gauge. There is a women's sporting clays club here and they all use them. The older traditional over-under shotgun has quite a thump for recoil. Don't see many of those anymore.
I'd love to spend six months of the year on a cruise ship. We're going in November(but only for seven days.LOL) Thank goodness hubby is still able to enjo9y them.
beenthere - we lived near Lincoln City for a while and always went to Salem as the 'big town' -ie - Costco! Our next RV Park is scheduled for Pacific City at Cape Kiwanda where we can walk across the road to the beach. I have been looking forward to that for a long time, but now I don't know if we will be able to go. What to do after AD? While you are making your big travel plans I am thinking of getting a whole night of sleep! I never want to go any place I have to fly - but I so want to take our rig and make it to all the states. That had been the plan - waylaid by AD of course. I also dream of going to Thermopolis, WY and sitting in hot water up to my neck, or going to Ojai, CA and spending a week at a spa there.
My little cottage is in Rhode Island by the ocean. We have a beautiful beach. You are all welcome to come visit me. I would also like the cruise, Sicily..Craftsman Cottage.....hmmm...sounds heavenly.