Life and Death

13 August 2004
My aunt died the other day. May she rest in peace. She lived up to 101.
I cannot imagine living that long and wouldn’t want to anyway because the chances are the people I care about would be dead. I am not frightened to die. I know it is part of life (an irony, don’t you think?). The burden remains with the living because they would have all the “regrets” and pain. That’s another reason why I try to be my best with the people I care about and live my life in the best possible way.

Speaking of life, hubby is toying with the idea of retiring next year when he reaches 60. I am not too sure about it because I still consider him quite young—he acts like it! But hubby’s been working since he was 17-18! Actually, it all hinges on our finances. Our economy is very strong, the Bank of England says it is the strongest economy we had since after the war. I am still ambivalent about his retirement though. I am sure he’ll keep himself busy with golf and pursuing his hobbies. The of course there’s the question about where we plan to stay…are we going to move soon or not? The property market is currently the driver of our economy and although the Bank of England has increased interest rates (a quarter of one percent) to slow down the growth to sustainable levels, prices are still increasing.

I am flagging a bit because I haven’t had my annual holidays yet and I am feeling tired. We are scheduled to go to the Isles of Scilly by the end of August for two weeks. I cannot wait for a bit of R&R. Next year we might go back to the South of France. I mentioned to hubby that we should explore the Continent more. Actually, travel would be first in my agendawhen I do retire. Because of our age difference, I think hubby and I would do that earlier than later.