Our
eldest grandson and his fiancé,
who live in Tucson, wanted to buy a house. Recent law school graduates, they
felt it would take years to accumulate enough money for a down payment. They
put great effort into improving the house they rent, particularly the yard
where they have created a productive garden. If only they could devote that energy
to a place of their own.
For several years now
Dennis has been promoting intergenerational living as an arrangement preferable
to old folks moving to assisted living or retirement communities where they
live only with other old people. Research, he says, indicates that old people
thrive best when they live with people of all ages.
I happened to know that
many houses in Tucson also have little houses called casitas. These are often
used as short-term rentals, but they also are ideal for older relatives. Why
not offer to provide our grandson with a down payment on a house with casita, a
casita that Dennis and I could occupy during the bitterly cold winter months we
currently endure in Kansas?
Dennis went for that idea
and so did our grandson and his fiancé! We have spent several weeks putting
together a deal to purchase a property with not one, but two, casitas. Dennis and I will have the use of both of them, one
for cooking, eating, and sleeping and the other for recreational activities –
reading, listening to music, sewing, and so forth. Not only will we have the
company of our relatives, but we also will be able to volunteer at the
elementary school nearby. In my decrepit condition I take great joy in watching
kids run and play, and I would love to play grandma to some children the ages
of my youngest grandchild, who lives so far away.
Dennis says we can’t live
just for ourselves; we have to live for others. In the case of this house
purchase, everyone benefits. Our
grandson will have a home of his own and we will escape the difficult winter
months, returning to Paradise for the gardening season.
Copyright
2015 by Shirley Domer
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