WRITING PROMPT #56
How to Survive Downsizing
Sometimes, necessity is the mother of Reinvention
The first time I learned about the idea of downsizing was over twenty-five years ago. I had to help my mother, who was in her mid-eighties, move out of our childhood home. It was a difficult situation because she was widowed and living alone in a big house where she had raised her children. The house was starting to deteriorate, and she had become “house poor.”
It was past time for her to move, but it was a decision she fought. She had many happy times in that house. Not only did she resist moving, my mom had been a collector of memories for decades. Parting with memorabilia was especially difficult for her. That’s when I realized that downsizing can take an emotional toll.
My parents’ generation was not accustomed to downsizing. They often remained in homes where they raised their children, even after the kids grew up and moved on. In those days, they were surrounded by family who tended to stay in the same area.
Today, it seems some of us in the baby boomer generation have picked up the habit of our parents. We find it just as difficult to leave the home where we raised our children. But things have changed. Family is likely to be more geographically dispersed. In addition, most of us…
