A few years ago, I thought of retire­ment as an un­burdened time where I would be spend­ing a lot of time on beaches, read­ing, travel­ing the world, and watch­ing nature. To that end, my husband and I purchased a tract of land on Vancouver Island about 20 years ago with the in­tention of building a retire­ment home there.

Somehow that plan just did not work out. We still like to visit the island, but no longer have plans of living there. In fact, we are both still not retired, even though at our ages we could be. I think that we both enjoy working still, so we decided to sell the land.

Of course, our senior years are now clouded by health issues. I am under­going treatments for multiple myeloma, and my husband also has some health concerns. We have to attend to medical appointments at least two to three times a month. In fact, with my monthly blood draws, oncologist’s appointments, as well as visits to my family doctor, dentist, and optometrist, it seems that about once a week there is some appointment or other on the calendar.

So while we do look forward to trips and vacations, we have come to the conclusion that it is more convenient for us to live in our city of over a million people than out in the idyllic countryside, for a variety of reasons.

One of the most important reasons is easy and immediate access to quality medical care. I didn’t realize until I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma that we live in a city with a highly regarded multiple myeloma research and treatment center.

Another important reason why I like living where we do is that we love being close to our family. Both of our daughters and their husbands and children live nearby. Becoming a grandmother for the third time in July made me so grateful that I can easily see the little ones (and the grandpuppy). We also have old friends and extended family here, such as my brother and his family, and my father and stepmother. Having an international airport in Calgary keeps us close to the rest of our family, including my mother and sisters, who live in British Columbia, and Dilip’s family, who are in the United States and as far away as Australia and India.

Having lived in Calgary almost all of my life, I feel very comfortable in the city, and as far as driving goes, and I think I could be a taxi driver, since I know the city very well.

We live in a roomy bungalow with a large garden area. Whenever I think of moving to a condominium or townhouse, I think that I would miss this area. However, in the winter, there is snow to shovel, and in the summer, lawns to mow, the shrubs to prune, and flower beds to weed. Is this getting to be too much? Should we downsize our home to a smaller place? As long as we pace ourselves, this work here seems do-able, but I could see that in the future, we may decide to get a more manageable place, especially if the multiple myeloma makes me sicker again.

Even though we live in the middle of a large city, we see wildlife in our backyard and neighborhood. We have planted native trees, shrubs, and plants, and even if we are not hiking in the foothills or the mountains, we feel close to nature. I think that right now I have the best of two worlds.

So, all in all, even though I am not relaxing on the coast, taking daily walks on beaches and kayaking about, I am quite content where I am right now. My concept of ‘what is retirement’ has changed to being more realistic for my current situation.

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The quotation for this month is from Jada Koren Pinkett–Smith (1971 - ), an American actress, dancer, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman, who said: "It's not about what you tell your children, but how you show them how to live life."