Cat Food

September 29, 2008
The economy is in the dumpster today. Isn’t it ironic that at this stage of our lives we have to worry about money? We played by the rules: Saved in our 401k (now at risk in the stock market), tolerated a job for 30 years in exchange for the security of a pension (now held by a bankruptcy trustee), paid into social security (likely the next victim), and invested in real estate (bottom dropping fast) and still face the real possibility of financial peril. I never wanted to be rich, just didn’t want to eat cat food in my “golden years”.

I have made a commitment to make phone calls for the Obama/Biden ticket every Monday, but am feeling a bit to down to do it tonight. I’ll be better tomorrow.

Back to the Villages story: I had been reading about communal living (I used to be a hippy) and wondering how I might purchase acreage in a place like New Mexico to build my green compound, when it occurred to me that the Villages could be a less drastic alternative. I returned home with a mental list in my head of my friends that I could picture living in the Villages. I ticked off about 15 potential friends and relatives. Some were golfers but others were like me, sun worshipers. Wayne was still not convinced that central Florida was far enough south that he would never have to put on a sweater again. I figured that I still had another 5 years to make a decision when my health took a dive.

I had always been healthy. My doctor misdiagnosed the condition for close to a year and by the time he took my persistent cough and constant fatigue seriously, my heart was barely keeping me alive. I was finally diagnosed with a virus in my heart. I was told I would have to eliminate all stress from my life, and take it VERY easy until they could put a defibrillator in. My doctor’s bedside manner was brutal and he let me know that the prognosis was not good. He assured me that if I could be satisfied with a sedentary life I could probably survive with medication. Great, at 50 years old I could retire from a job I loved (though the company had recently gone into bankruptcy), stop being County Democratic Chairman (no stress there), give up all physical activities and vegetate for a few years till I die. Shit, I might as well be dead already.

I have always been a bit on the “Carpe diem train” but this pushed me over the edge. I told my doctor to cure me, not manage me as I was 50 not 80, and I began the push to get better. Long story short, I took my sick leave and went back to the Villages. My best friend, Rich and I also took a trip to Arizona to Sun City, Pebble Creek and looked at other communities in Florida, figuring the Villages must be one of many choices. I looked for something inter-generational as I always hoped my family would live near me forever, but didn’t find anything that fit the bill.

I still had my reservations about the Villages. My life was a bit to “messy” for a planned community like the Villages. I had big dogs, 2 cats and almost grown kids, and I was a Democrat. My husband was raised on a farm and liked to tinker with messy stuff in the driveway and did not like neighbors in his business. We lived in a rambling house on 2 acres on the Erie Canal with a 200 year old grave yard as our only neighbors. My kids were also very rooted in that house, and my oldest does not like change! Then on my second trip to the Villages, I found the place I had been looking for, politely referred to as the “Historic Side”. It just felt right. I rented a place for December and January and went back to New York to have my heart operation.