Being content with your life is not too difficult but some people manage to do it with ease and at a much slower pace than others accepting the cards that they have been dealt and making the most of their lives.
Over the last 2 or 3 weeks I have been running around like...I don't know what. Meetings here, networking there, golf, rugby, football etc and visits to the Cheltenham Literary Festival and on Sunday last to Swindon for dinner with my elder daughter whose birthday it was on Tuesday. I think that the expression is "burning the candle at both ends". To crown it all I had designated Monday to take a 500 mile plus trip to Cornwall to see a client that I hadn't visited for a little over 4 years.
I have acted for the client, a holiday park owned and run by a husband and wife team, since they bought the park around 16 years ago and until recently had visited them every year, and sometimes twice a year. Over that time we have become good friends. Rather than bring their children up in South London they chose to give up the day job and move to the quieter, prettier countryside of Cornwall and the business is very much a lifestyle business. The husband is now 58 years old and his knees are the worst for sporting injuries in his younger days, his wife a little younger but now they are looking to sell the park together with their home.
Once I had reached their part of Cornwall and driven the half mile or so down an unmade road to their home I was greeted as an old friend and as we chatted over a coffee they were eager to know news of my family (my elder daughter once called to deliver some records back to them when she was camping in Newquay) and of my own health. They remembered about the back operation that I had had some 4 years ago a short while after they had last seen me and how it had left me.
So what is unusual about that I hear you ask? Well when they bought the Holiday Park they had 2 sons, aged 4 and 1, and within a year of moving the younger son was diagnosed as autistic. The lifestyle business was not necessarily always good for him as he needed more care, more supervision and more time devoted to him than sometimes the business would allow. However the solitude of the location meant that there was plenty of space for him to run around in and let off steam and my clients have managed it magnificently.
Their elder son is now at University almost 200 miles away from home and has always had his parents time when needed or wanted. He also has helped with his brother, who now clearly misses him. I recall being there on one occasion a few years ago and he was off to football practice. Someone was picking him up to drive to the practice from the top of the lane but he didn't ask his parents for a lift the half mile or so. As I was just leaving I offered him a lift and for a teenager he was a very well balanced and articulate young man.
Given the circumstances you can imagine my surprise around 8 years ago when they told me they were going to adopt a young girl of 7 years of age. She had a number of behavioural issues at the time and because of the family unit that has been created not only has she learnt to deal with these, she also has helped with the care of her adoptive brother. Their daughter is looking to train as a teacher for children with special needs.
One reason that they are looking to sell their business is that it will allow them to spend more time with their younger son once he leaves school as he will most probably need to have permanent care.
A friend of mine once told me that he would only work with people that he would invite into his home and these people are just those kind of people. There is no resentment in the family simply love and love for their friends and extended family.
I think that they deserve to have a happy retirement, don't you?
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