View From the Tenth Level

Saturday, April 26, 2008

I spoke with my father-in-law on the phone today. He'd been hospitalised all week due to an infection that completely incapacitated him. This same infection flares up every couple of years and every couple of years, we hold our breath, waiting for him to pull through.

Today he announced that he and my mother-in-law are planning on selling their home and will be moving to a retirement community closer to us where he won't have to look after the lawn and garden or maintain the pool, and where there are security and emergency services.

You would think that this might be a sad announcement - but no. My in-laws are excited about this. It will be like moving to a resort! There will be a country club on the property, as well as an eye clinic, physicians' offices, tennis courts, swimming pool, and lots of other amenities. Things sure have changed from when I was a kid!

No. This is the new "old age" where people like my in-laws can enjoy the fruits of their lifelong labors and be looked after at the same time.

Secretly, there's a little feeling of jealousy in me. Dan and I are still running the rat race - going nowhere at times, it seems. I imagine my in-laws lounging by the pool while the cabana boys bring drinks with umbrellas sticking out of them (of course, this is my fantasy, so I'm allowed to have cabana boys in it) and an attractive nurse helps my father-in-law into his robe. Dan and I will probably be working until we're his parents' ages (unless we get some help from State Lotto.)

Transitions aren't what they used to be.

Photo credit: Read more about the Pensioners' Playground.

posted by Melanie O. at 3:55 PM -

2 Comments:

At 9:54 PM, gardenbug said…

Please give my best wishes for a speedy recovery to your father in law. The retirement community sounds wonderful for them.
At 9:26 AM, Anonymous said…

Hey, that sounds good to me. Personally, I don’t see any end in sight, other than what’s inevitable. I kind of lost touch with your blog. We ditched our old blog and lost a bunch of links. I still had your web link, but the blog button on the index page doesn’t work on our browser for some reason. (the other buttons work fine). I’m sorry to hear about your son, but things can change. The term “letting go” has a certain finality to it. Better to call it accepting the current relationship. What you do need to let go of is any guilt. He has an illness that no intervention would have prevented.
Take care,
Marty