Thanks to those who responded to my first post. Some of you thought I meant I would travel with Angela. she is my granddaughter. I would be traveling with Jeneva, Angela's mother, and yes it would be wonderful to travel with her. We get along very well and the company would be comfortable.
The biggest hurdle at the moment is Angela. This has been her home all her life and she is not taking very well to the idea of my selling it. I try to tell her that she should move on into her own life but I know how difficult change is for her and losing her childhood home, not having it to come back to, is really hard.
Since making this move would involve an estate sale and the divesting of all my worldly goods I find myself looking around the house and asking "Can I really give up all of my possessions?"
My Benedictine teaching tells me not to become attached to worldly goods but when I consider my maternal grandmother's rocking chair and my paternal grandmother's table and the silly coffee table my dad made for me, etc it isn't as easy as it sounds to let it go. Joey and her kids are coming for Thanksgiving so I told her to look around while she's here so she can tag anything she wants if I leave.
I have put a lot of work and love into this house and the gardens and greenhouses so this is not a choice I am going to make quickly or lightly.
I have considered renting the farm which would be an option if it doesn't sell, but that would leave me with the financial burden and if the renters leave or are not good tenants then I'm forced to come back. Also that doesn't give me the money to pay the student loans or buy the truck I would need or have extra money to travel with. So that is not the best option.
Angela says she's going to win the lottery so she can buy it. Right!
I have a realtor coming next week just to see what she says about real possibilities.
I don't have a definite time frame for how long I would travel, probably until I get tired or my health stops me. I generally think about it in terms of 5 years but that's just an envelope, not necessarily a plan.
So, as I am going about my fall housecleaning I am looking at my "Stuff" and thinking about what it means to get rid of it all. Today I cleaned off the top of the file cabinet and got rid of a lot of minutia but nothing that I would miss. It's amazing how you can have things for years and not touch them or even remember that they are there. If nothing else this discernment will no doubt result in my getting rid of a lot of excess baggage.
More later
Peace to all of you
Lyn
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Lyn, I too thought that divestiture (yup) would be hard, but I began to feel encumbered, if not in bondage to, my "stuff". I've taken out big plastic bag after big plastic bag, and with each bag (I'm down to smaller, paper bags now), I have felt increasingly emancipated, and the thought of leaving is not so disconcerting as it was before.
ReplyDeleteBlessings -
Sarah
I'm having to divest from necessity, as the cost of shipping prohibits me from taking to Scotland anything but what I absolutely can't bear to part with -- and now I don't even have the option of storing stuff at your place, heh. Yeah, it kills me to think of leaving the farm for good, and maybe those familiar items going to strangers. But I think it would be selfish of ME to expect you to keep the farm going so I could have it when you die. ;-)
ReplyDelete"What you own eventually owns you." -Tyler Durden
ReplyDeleteThat said, all those familiar items with which you don't want to part could go to someone in the family, or could go into storage - storage unit rentals really aren't that bad, in the situation you're talking about.
I have a few things I rescued from the house I grew up in - a rolltop desk, an antique mirror in the hallway, a couple of paintings - and when I sell the house (my current future plan is remarkably similar to yours, though it involves people rather than parks), I intend to put them in a storage unit for when I eventually settle again; I can't think of anyone I'd trust with them, so I'd rather pay a stranger, ironically...
The real estate market is your major hurdle. I have a friend in Louisiana who just sold her first home in Texas and is trying to sell her Louisiana house as well, because she got caught up in the recent clusterfuck and had overextended herself. She's bought herself some grace time at this point - less than a year - but things are still tough.
Which is to say that it may be prudent to hold off for a year and hope that the market recovers somewhat, fetching you a better price and an easier sale. Or it could be savvy to ditch it now, before the next shoe drops onto your roof. Ain't I helpful?