A Special Place
My wife and I have been on a quest to find a special place to retire. We began to talk to one another about this subject in our early thirties, after we took the first of our annual family vacations with our children. The matter became more interesting when my parents watched over our children while my wife and I took our first distant couple vacation. That was a wonderful trip to a Caribbean Island, and it launched our annual quest to budget for both one family trip and a couple trip each year.
In most years we have done it, but now that our children are grown, the family trip tends to be close to home, usually to a rented beach house. Our children and their families, some extended family, and some loyal friends come and go during that week to share food and fun with us. The couple vacation has progressively become more exciting. Among dozens of trips, we have been to Alaska, three of the Hawaiian islands, Germany, and have enjoyed five cruises so far. All of them were trips to special places, yet we noticed something missing in the stunning scenery.
There was no family or friends with us on the couples trips. With no one special with us to share the experience, we sensed a void. We shared pictures and told stories to them when we returned, but we did not see the excitement in them that was sparked in us when we were there. It was fun to watch a sunset in Bryce Canyon and speak of retiring to Utah’s red rock country. The captivating view at the overlook of the Jackson Lake Lodge enabled us to hear Wyoming’s call of the wild to live there forever. Bermuda mesmerized us with balmy temperatures and quirky British pastimes. To experience Key West was to step into a Hemingway novel. Both Charleston and Savannah took us back to a gentler time of Southern charm and grace. Could we live in any of those places for the rest of our days?
We have begun to realize that if we did that, our children would no longer drop in with their families for Sunday dinner. There would be no more family games, a old tradition that I began when they were little, and they still cherish and practice it. We don’t have grandchildren yet, but when we do, I want them to call me Old Bear (not Grandpa or Grand Dad). My wife and I have pet names for one another. She is the Little Bear and I am the Big Bear. I want life’s little dessert (my Grandchildren) to know me as Old Bear.
If my wife and I move so far away from them, will we miss life’s little dessert? We have begun to speak of such things. We still love to plan and take new adventures to places we have never been, but, we understand that what makes a place special is the people in our lives who are special to us.
How about you? Where is your special place?
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