Following an unforeseen problem with settlement of our Prince Street house – the best laid plans etc. – we moved to Martha’s Point on May 20. Mark refers to our downsizing as “future proofing”, which to him meant ensuring we were settled in a home and location suitable for our twilight years, before we became too old to face the upheaval.

            Four months later, we have no regrets, our new home is comfortable and easy to care for, our courtyard garden blooming following renovation. Gregarious Mark has joined the Green Thumbs Gardening Group and enjoys chatting to fellow residents over a glass of wine in the community centre, or anyone passing our house as he works in the garage. I have taken up aqua aerobics, a surprise to a sedentary author who spends solitary hours in the study pursuing her retirement career of creating novels. Despite the Martha’s Point pool being 4 feet deep throughout – I am about 4’ 9” these days – I find the exercise beneficial and enjoy the camaraderie with other participants.  A monthly book club enables me to meet other bibliophiles, while movie afternoons and the occasional lunch or dinner in the community centre also prise me from fictional worlds.

I have always found the Advices and Queries helpful guides to living the Quaker way. I joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1967 as a sixteen-year-old and have tried to take heed to the promptings of love and truth in my heart, to live adventurously and let my life speak. So, when making relocation plans with my beloved husband of 52 years, I took heed of Advice #31, believing it is wise to approach old age with courage and hope…. Pray that in my final years I may be enabled to find new ways of receiving and reflecting God’s love.