Alternative Arrangements for Ancients (AAA)

Monday, December 1, 2008

I’ve been living alone- with my wife of 35 years, for about a year. In many ways it is
“The best of all possible worlds” as far as I’m concerned but if you asked my wife she might disagree.

I first started sleeping in one of the spare rooms because of my wife’s snoring and her tendency to scream “mama” when woken from a sound sleep. Also we have very different ideas about optimum sleeping arrangements; my “better half” insists on hermetically sealed sleeping quarters (windows shut tight, closed, heavy blinds on the windows, doors closed) I prefer open windows, no blinds and the door wide open.
In addition, my wife retires very soon after dinner and I usually go to be at 11:00 PM and read until midnight.

Now, I’m well established in my own room with a desk and my laptop at a large window and the freedom to got bed when I please without being screamed at. However, I still think about future arrangements and the idea of co-housing seems like a very sensible idea to me. I retired at 65, ten years ago, but my wife, who is my junior by 13 years still works at a job she enjoys. She plans to continue until she reaches the point she can qualify for full S.S. benefits. At that point, we could move to co-housing and I would relinquish my housekeeping, gardening and maintenance responsibilities that could prove somewhat “heavy” in another 7 years. (I’ll be 81 by then)