“One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.” Margaret Mead
I come home from a long trip to the West Coast exhausted from the time change and the joys of current air travel. As I turn into my driveway, I see my lights are on in my house and the shades are drawn. What a welcome sight for a woman living alone. I’m expected; someone is welcoming me home.
It is my neighbor, Ginny, who has been taking care of the house and my two cats while I visited distant states in my campaign to tout the glories of living in community. In the last 4 years I have encouraged, cajoled, and nudged my fellow Boomers to investigate new ways of spending our lives as we move forward into its second half.
Home Alone
My quest to live in community kicked into gear when my parents died about five years ago. Because I had no children, I’d spent many years talking to my friends about emulating the Golden Girls living arrangement and life style. It was suddenly time to do something about it. No time to waste.
Since that realization, I have sponsored conferences, one-day events, and spoken about women wanting to live in community in our second half of life as my passion and purpose. Why women? My answer: because I am one, and I understand us better, and there are many of us. To take it up a notch, I also believe in what Scott Peck said back in 1987 in his book, “The Different Drum”: “In and through community lies the salvation of the world.” Big orders!
Urgency. Yes, there is some of that because I don’t have all the time in the world now. Not like when I was 20. And maybe that is a good thing as we endeavor to bring community to a large group of aging Americans. No time to waste.
The reason I am sharing this is that I want others to read relate to my history and the joys and pitfalls on the path. Why I do the work I do with others! https://www.womenlivingincommunity.com/services/
Taken from Marianne’s Journal 2009 – More, to be continued.
