We started building our house last October – not to jinx anything, but we’re told it could all get done and we will be able to move in to that fully-fleshed out home next month! Oh my! Life always provides opportunity for introspection and this has been no exception.

What are we learning? It’s diverse, and most of it new to us. Here’s a short list of the new stuff:

Everything about building a house – ever done that before? NO!

Building a house is not something one does every day unless it’s your vocation, your career choice, what you do. We’re realizing it’s sort of like becoming a parent, you really, truly, can’t totally prepare for what you’re getting into. We tried… We needed to sell the house we were living in before we broke ground (and started paying for) the new house. There was a 3-year lag time! So we were on and off in our preparation for the new build. Once we broke ground, some pregnant shortcomings in our prep process became blaringly apparent. One issue was the cost of our design decisions. Now that we’ve gone through the pain of making different choices that fit within our budget, we can laugh about it, but in the midst, it was troublesome and time-consuming.

I’m a grown child who’s returned home! Yikes!

We’ve all heard the stories. Does anyone ever expect to move back in with their folks – into their old bedrooms – using the bathroom they grew up with? Aye! I didn’t! I also have no living parents and the house I grew up in is long gone. We left a job at the same time our old house sold. Judy’s Mom and Dad’s basement was empty and waiting – and priced right. It was the right move to make then and the right-ness of the situation has become more apparent as our stay here has lengthened.

Elder care and end-of-life issues.

The move into the basement has provided us with a wonderful opportunity that we had no idea would be a part of the new build. Stemming from one thing, then another, ending up with our move into the basement, we realized shortly after setting up house there that the Universe was providing us with the most perfect of circumstances unfolding. Mom and Dad are now 89 and 87. Since September when we moved in, things have changed dramatically in their lives. Our being on-site and present has been extremely helpful through those changes. The experience is adding to the perspective of aging for ourselves, and preparing for that eventuality successfully. The issues are mostly not easy, and encompass physical body and environment in conjunction with emotions and the heart. Sensitivity required.

It’s all been good. We’ve taken advantage of the opportunities this endeavor has provided. People have different reactions to the idea of building a new house – some who have done it say it was exciting and fun, but there are the others – a lot of them, who talk about it in the most derisive of phrases.

As for us, we still love each other! We are happy for the process, and are totally excited for the day when we finally cross the threshold and move in.

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Categories: Journal

Tags: aging, journal, what's up