A friend and I drifted into a long and wonderful conversation about the generational family home where she lives with her husband, son/wife and 3 1/2 granddaughters. The house is always sweet smelling and lively with a webbing that grows between generations. The biggest drawback to the arrangement, she says, is the lack of privacy.
Her husband's small business failed after 40 years and they lost their home because the bank would not work with them. Something about the bank assessing them as having too few years left of earning potential to be a good risk for a loan. (They are in their early 60s) And that is how it came to be one big, noisy, chaotic home.
I learned some of her story the other day when she announced her retirement. I admire her irrepressible spirit that rolls with the punches, perhaps learned from being a Survivor and knowing to face forward, not back. Bev lives fully engaged in the moment. That's what I love about her; that's what I will miss.
As I warmly congratulated her and marvelled at her readiness for retirement, (wishing I could be in that boat with her) she tossed back her head in a laugh, and replied: 'Ready? Oh heavens, no. We'll just make it work.'
What a perfect answer! I have no doubt that she will.
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