Neighbors

 

Last year, my wife and I downsized our house and yard...  we are now living on one level...

We moved around the corner from where we were living...  so, we are in the same community.

Our neighbors on either side of us and across the street are all retired and while we are not all the same age, we are in our late 60s to mid 70s.  All of us are veterans but not all of us have college degrees and yet, we all pretty much have the same amount of retirement income based upon the way we are living, even though none of our finances have been shared with each other.

We all have medical conditions, some worse than others, but those conditions seem to be the topic of discussion, every time we find ourselves outside at the same time and join together in discussion.

While we talk a little politics, we realize that there is not a damn thing that we can do about what concerns us and we all know that regardless of what happens in Washington DC, our quality of life WILL NOT CHANGE even though we may have to pay a little more for that quality.

We look back on our lives and only seems to talk about the good times, never the bad times, unless they are CURRENT.  The past is always positive.

What have we really learned from our relatively long life so far?

Well, I suppose not much but on the other side of the coin, I suppose a great deal.

First - we are all still alive

Second - we are all retired (with stories)

Third - we all have children and grandchildren

Fourth - we all own our homes and have no debt

Fifth - we all have gratitude for what we have

Sixth - we all have learned patience and tolerance

Seventh - we all have friends

Eighth - we all have pets

Ninth - we all hope for the best but expect the worst

Tenth - we all have contingency plans

Eleventh - we all don't take ourselves too seriously

Twelfth - we all go out for lunch or dinner often

Thirtieth - we all go on multiple vacations

Fourteenth - we all keep ourselves busy