Posted on February 6, 2013 under Storytelling with one comment

We were rolling coins the other day as part of our pre-retirement planning.  In the spring we will plant another money tree in hope that, this time, it will take root.  And of course, when all else fails, we will go to the old standby – lottery tickets; which, apparently, is how one third of the population plans to fund their retirement.

We are heading into the time of the year when the financial world ramps up the rhetoric about retirement planning in an effort to shake money out of your pockets.  We will be besieged by companies who promise to make us rich.  It is crunch time for the baby boomers.  However, one thing that the financial industry fails to recognize amidst all the hype is that we have children.  And yes, though I realize that money isn’t everything, it sure keeps the kids in touch.

In the post war era large families were commonplace.  Actually it was the norm.  On our street alone, there were at least ten families that had at six kids or more.  Lest I lapse into a rant about the “good old days”, let me assure you that it was not a time of plenty.  All of these families had the necessities of life including food, shelter and Mass on Sunday.  Most of these families were single income and after feeding all the hungry mouths, there wasn’t a lot left over for luxuries.  In order to earn our allowance of 50 cents we had to do the dishes, make our beds and say the rosary without complaint.  Mind you, 50 cents bought a lot in those days.  You could go to the Saturday matinee at the theatre for 37 cents and with the remaining 13 cents get enough penny candy to keep the local dentists in business.

When we were old enough we were expected to be self-sufficient if we had any hopes of enjoying the fine things in life like a $3.00 CCM hockey stick.  So we pumped gas, delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, shovelled driveways after snow storms, trapped muskrats and babysat in order to bolster our savings.  And then, when we were still in our teens, we were sent into the world to fend for ourselves in university, trade school or via direct entry into the labour force.

Every generation is different and our children have grown up in a much different world. Today the objective is to keep them alive until they’re twenty five.  The whole notion of money has changed.  First of all, most of our kids haven’t seen, and don’t use cash… at least their own.  Everything is now done electronically and one suspects that before too long, we will have a small computer chip embedded in our hand .  We will merely hold up the hand to a touch screen to pay for goods and services. You can just wave your money goodbye.

We can’t hold our children responsible for our somewhat meagre retirement savings.  Just when you think they are all “off the payroll”, along come the grandchildren.  If you thought it was hard saying no to your children, wait until you look into your grandchild’s eyes.  Most of us have resigned ourselves to working forever.  That will fix those financial advisor types.  We’ll fool them.  We’ll die with our boots on.

As the old saying goes, “you can’t take it with you”.  Having offspring  has assured us of that.  It also means that we will be leaving something pretty wonderful behind.

Posted on February 1, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Thought I would let you know about my first “story exchange” at a local seniors apartment building. I went over last night with two stories in tow. One of them called ” This Old House” was written specifically for this group as all of them have had the experience of selling their homes and undertaking the big move before relocating to the apartments. I read the story and then gave everyone a chance to say a few words… more of an icebreaker than anything. They all gave a brief bio. It was amazing how many of them grew up in very large families and had large families of their own. Many of them grew up as children without running water, indoor plumbing or electricity.
The second story called (R)Aging Grannies was a tribute to this group of women who worked unbelievably hard. We’re not likely to ever see another generation of women quite like this. After the second reading, a few of them weighed in with stories. I got a great idea for my next story from one of them. Let’s just say it’s about dessert. It will be called ” Sinking Your Teeth Into It”. I’ll post it here after I meet with them again in two weeks time.
It was a delightful evening and look forward to many more. I will be publishing my next story after its release in The Casket next Tuesday. It’s called ” You Can’t Take it With You”. let’s just say it’s very topical for the month of February.
Len