I'm sorry our time didn't overlap more! You were winding down here as we were getting started. I know the community is so much better for your having been here! <3
Not a melancholy theme really… It’s practical and welcoming. I remember giving up my library of 3000 books, keeping only ten that were precious to me. Travelling light and far from places we knew well, we now travel with the best memories of a life well lived.
My wife and I have experienced the same sense of loss a few times in our lives together. There is something sad about ending significant chapters of our lives. May this next chapter of yours be filled with of surprises as you tread new paths.
Melancholy theme, but excellent logic behind the move, if I may say so. On reflection I/we (I'm no longrer strong myself - and if I was, would it be the time to do this?) have been doing this piecemeal over the last little while. I will buy and read your book when issued, and then pass it on with the thousands of others I have parted with. Thanks. All the best, John.
I am also packing up slowly, gradually to move back to Ontario with trepidation after almost ten dead years in Montreal. I came here to escape the English language which had ripped out my soul after 16 years of legal battles. I wanted to be invisible in a place amidst a language I didn't understand. I didn't want to hear the only language I knew. Never having had stability of home or people, I'd resigned myself to being a searcher. Now, approaching age 66 I miss my children and grandchildren who live in Ontario, a place I despise. I miss the Irish sea, but I don't belong there either. I am learning to ride the waves of uncertainty.
I hear you. Some of us grow roots inside our abodes. I live in the house in which I grew up, and I know at some stage, I may need to sell it. And it’s not just the house—in the garden are plants I love, many decades old. There is a may bush my mum planted from a cutting when we first moved here. It is five years younger than me but I don’t know the age of the bush from which the cutting came. It could be much older than me.
In this suburb, the trend is to pull down old houses and rebuild. The replacement is usually a soulless two story monstrosity surrounded by concrete. So selling means that I may condemn the house and garden to death. My heart break would be doubled.
You are lucky your library agreed to take your books. Ours refuses unless they are in a language other than English. (A downside if living in a multicultural area.) I don’t have the ability to drive several kilometres to a place that might take them. The last lot of books I disposed of went into the rubbish bin.
When we made the same difficult decision to leave behind our piece of paradise in NS I did not mourn leaving behind the many accumulated things as the 25 years of wonderful memories did not contain them.
But I did pause and feel sadness when I had to say goodbye to shelves and shelves of books. Including some of yours, although for those I found a wonderful home.
All I can say is that once the deed was done we felt wonderfully liberated and have never looked back.
End of an era …. I will miss the drive back and forth with the car . It was several days of bliss for me . Thanking you for those opportunities and memories . I know you will miss the house ten times more . Hope the packing up went well. Hard thing to do .
I'm sorry our time didn't overlap more! You were winding down here as we were getting started. I know the community is so much better for your having been here! <3
Not a melancholy theme really… It’s practical and welcoming. I remember giving up my library of 3000 books, keeping only ten that were precious to me. Travelling light and far from places we knew well, we now travel with the best memories of a life well lived.
My wife and I have experienced the same sense of loss a few times in our lives together. There is something sad about ending significant chapters of our lives. May this next chapter of yours be filled with of surprises as you tread new paths.
Melancholy theme, but excellent logic behind the move, if I may say so. On reflection I/we (I'm no longrer strong myself - and if I was, would it be the time to do this?) have been doing this piecemeal over the last little while. I will buy and read your book when issued, and then pass it on with the thousands of others I have parted with. Thanks. All the best, John.
Having the luxury of a second home whilst there are so many homeless and hungry people in the world doesn’t engender much sympathy.
I am also packing up slowly, gradually to move back to Ontario with trepidation after almost ten dead years in Montreal. I came here to escape the English language which had ripped out my soul after 16 years of legal battles. I wanted to be invisible in a place amidst a language I didn't understand. I didn't want to hear the only language I knew. Never having had stability of home or people, I'd resigned myself to being a searcher. Now, approaching age 66 I miss my children and grandchildren who live in Ontario, a place I despise. I miss the Irish sea, but I don't belong there either. I am learning to ride the waves of uncertainty.
We mourn for you even as we face the same sad reality about a beloved place by the sea. Sandra
I hear you. Some of us grow roots inside our abodes. I live in the house in which I grew up, and I know at some stage, I may need to sell it. And it’s not just the house—in the garden are plants I love, many decades old. There is a may bush my mum planted from a cutting when we first moved here. It is five years younger than me but I don’t know the age of the bush from which the cutting came. It could be much older than me.
In this suburb, the trend is to pull down old houses and rebuild. The replacement is usually a soulless two story monstrosity surrounded by concrete. So selling means that I may condemn the house and garden to death. My heart break would be doubled.
You are lucky your library agreed to take your books. Ours refuses unless they are in a language other than English. (A downside if living in a multicultural area.) I don’t have the ability to drive several kilometres to a place that might take them. The last lot of books I disposed of went into the rubbish bin.
When we made the same difficult decision to leave behind our piece of paradise in NS I did not mourn leaving behind the many accumulated things as the 25 years of wonderful memories did not contain them.
But I did pause and feel sadness when I had to say goodbye to shelves and shelves of books. Including some of yours, although for those I found a wonderful home.
All I can say is that once the deed was done we felt wonderfully liberated and have never looked back.
You made me weep Philip. Too much of that going on these days.
Heather
End of an era …. I will miss the drive back and forth with the car . It was several days of bliss for me . Thanking you for those opportunities and memories . I know you will miss the house ten times more . Hope the packing up went well. Hard thing to do .
great book title for that theme!