A Personal Perspective: Lessons from the Journey
I’ve spoken with so many friends and neighbors who have navigated this transition, and a few common themes always emerge. One friend, Margaret, told me the hardest part was letting go of her massive dining room table. It was the table where her family had gathered for every Thanksgiving for thirty years. She cried as the movers took it away. But a few months later, living in her new condo, she started a weekly potluck in the community room with her new neighbors. She told me, “I realized the memories weren’t in the wood of the table; they were in the act of gathering. And I’m still gathering.”
Another couple, Tom and Shirley, sold their four-bedroom house and bought an RV. Their “downsize” was a radical one! They spend six months of the year traveling the country, visiting national parks and seeing the grandkids. Tom said the most surprising discovery was the freedom. “I used to spend every Saturday on a ladder cleaning gutters or fixing a sprinkler head,” he laughed. “Now, my biggest Saturday decision is whether to go for a hike or read a book by the lake.”
These stories remind us that the emotional journey is just as important as the physical one. It’s okay to feel sad about what you’re leaving behind. Acknowledge those feelings. Take pictures of your old home. Write down a few stories about your favorite memories there. Honoring the past is what allows you to fully embrace the future. What you’ll likely discover, as so many have, is that a smaller home creates a larger life.
