Commentary by Wayne Lee
I can’t believe it’s already time to tear another page off the calendar, but the fatigue I’m feeling is an ongoing reminder of just how busy life has become. When I look at the 31 days in May, I can only find four days of blank squares. The rest are filled with meetings, events, sports contests and an ever-increasing number of doctor appointments. I’ve been putting in more hours than when I was gainfully employed. I’m not just tired, I’m retired, although I don’t believe that’s an actual definition of the word “retired.”
In any event, on the one hand I don’t know how much longer I can continue to maintain this workload. The world around me isn’t slowing down, but I certainly am. On the other hand, sitting at home alone and talking to my cats is not how I want to spend my remaining years. I don’t want to be the crazy old man with a long beard shaking my fist at kids, shouting, “Get off my lawn!”
And here’s the conundrum. My oldest child currently lives on the other side of the country just outside Bridgeport, CT. She has been pressuring me to move east and live with her and her extended family…and I mean EXTENDED. I met many of them when I was there for my daughter’s wedding and again for my granddaughter’s christening 13 years ago. Just the aunts and uncles alone number more than two dozen and I couldn’t begin to count all the grandchildren.
I have been resistant to relocating because I have enjoyed living in Eagle Point since moving here in 2005 having never even seen the town. It was a refreshing change from the sprawl and congestion of Sacramento as well as the increasing street violence. However, as the years passed, so did those most important to me and there isn’t anything anchoring me here anymore.
Once again, my daughter sent me a picture of a four-bedroom home she signed a lease on and again wants me to relocate out there with her and her family. I spent more than two decades in Sacramento, and I have now spent more than two decades in Eagle Point. It may be time for one last move where I can spend my remaining time in a new location, enjoying new places and new people.
Easier said than done. Packing and transporting all my worldly belongings across the country, including my cats, will be a major undertaking resembling a small, military operation. Also, it’s a two-story home and these old legs don’t enjoy the stairs. In the meantime, I have yet to make a decision, and a family event is taking place in Sacramento in mid-August.
I just received a phone call from my daughter who informed me she plans to have a pod delivered to my humble abode for me to pack my bedroom and personal mementos this August and transport them across the country. Two months to pack up and leave is not a workable plan for someone with roots, responsibilities and a pair of cats.
Obviously, further negotiations are required if this is to happen. It’s time for a change, and I do so love a new adventure, just one that isn’t chaotic.
