Sunday, October 7, 1990 - North Shore News - 41

Get ready for retirement
Be realistic when planning

SOMEONE TEETERING on
to me, ‘‘What’s the secret?
prepare?’’

Climb upon my knee. Ill tell
you how | did it. All wrong.

The first thing | wanted to en-
sure was a hedge against the miss-
ing paycheque, so I replenished all
the household basics ~~ socks,
dish towels, sheets and pillow-
cases, pyjamas, underwear, all
that stuff. It’s all worn out now,
and needs to be replaced, at
higher prices.

Another thing I did was to Plan
My Life. I planned first to return
to modelling, for two reasons. To
keep myself in the company of the
young, and to force myself to
make the most of my original
equipment. I looked pretty much
the same, up as far as my
shoulders, as I had 20 years ago,
when I'd found it such an escape
from reality.

I also wanted to pursue the
television commercial game, simi-
lar reasoning to above. | found I
had no idea of the energy needed
for that pursuit, and that if J
could have found the energy |
couldn’t stand the waiting.

Waiting for phone calis, waiting
for parts for old ladies didn’t fit
my style after all those years of
turning my own crank.

Nor had 1 done the proper
research — fashion coordinators
for seniors’ shows don’t want el-
derly ladies who fancy themselves
— as one bluntly asserted, they
need ladies who are “‘squares or
pears.” A like bias with advertis-
ers requires that if you're grey-
haired you. ought to be cosy —
plump, bosomy, foiksy, which I
ain’t.

During all the months spent
thus fruitlessly, i felt second-class
because I wasn’t earning. For 20 -
years I'd done a useful job as of-
fice manager, with lots of control,
lots of freedom of speech, and the
pleasure of home life at the end of
the day. The pleasures of home
life were now mine from dawn to
dark and so what. And there
wasn’t any money coming in that
I could point to as from my ef-
fort.

It took me close to two years to

ELP

Family Caregiver

A two part workshop
for Family Caregivers
Saturday, Oct. 13
Saturday, Oct. 20
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Cedar Room
NORTH BUILDING
Delbrook Recreation Centre,
600 West Queens Road
North Vancouver

Pre-registration Tuesday, Oct. 9
For more information contact

NortH Suore CareGiveRs

Support Society
Suite 7-103 West 3rd Street
North Vancouver
983-2141
Funded by N.S. Union Board of Health

the brink of retirement said
What should I be doing to

accept retirement, per se. Gradu-
ally | managed to come to terms
with a life that wasn't going to
have an office in it, or a date with
a@ camera or a runway. And Iearn-
ed to compromise with the loss of
the status of drawing down a reg-
ular paycheque. The Old Age
Pension and the Canada Pension
money helped preserve some con-
ception of still being a consumer,
and astounded me that I needed
that identification. Me? I'd always
scorned that stereotype of the
homemaker — placid, protected,
incubated and out shopping —
and here I was courting the role
for myself,

To keep a house and one’s self
and family clean and attractive, to
use one’s cooking skills and con-
stantly improve on them, to foster
friendship, help the helpless, keep
up with literature, politics, the
science of health, the well-being of
children, the care and feeding of a
spouse — here is a monumental
piece of work. Still we, the
women whose job it is, dismiss it
as second-class. Our priorities are
warped.

When those first female muni-
tions-workers invaded the fac-
tories in the First World War they
surely opened up a can of worms.
They got a taste of the life men
lead, and gave femininity a bad
name.

But there is a positive and
rewarding side to retirement, pro-
viding you make yourself ready.
Some have been ready for ages,
they’re going to enjoy the whole

nas

Tai

~_—

REALTY LTD.
Box 118, 3730 Fairwinds Drive
Nanoose Bay, B.C. VOR 2R0
(604) 468-7626 Fax: (604) 468-7673

abundance of life. A lot of us,
though, find our identity in the
work we do in the marketplace,
and transferring to redundance
gives us the willies. It’s best to
approach it positively, trying
things before discarding them as
unacceptable. The law says now
that, in effect, you can keep dod-
dering off to work as long as the
job fasts, but if you can’t see the
numbers and if you can’t hang on
to the hammer you have to expect
that there will be a period of
retirement before you're lucky
enough to get hit by a truck.

What you have always dreamed
of for your lovely leisure? People
will say, ‘“‘Now you can take a
cruise."’ So you can, but spend
time on research — it will be fair-
ly costly, and you may hate it. Do
you like boating? Do you get
seasick? Can you live without a
bath tub? Are you going to go
with a friend, to insulate you, or
by yourself, so that you have to
put out? Do you have to have a
lot of different clothes? Which is
best, a huge floating recreation
complex, or a modest, small and
friendly freighter?

What about your style of liv-
ing? Perhaps you should simplify
it now, before you're incapaci-
tated and can’t cope. As you
shrink, the house expands, like
something out of Alice.

What about going back to
school? There are all manners of
absorbing things to learn in the
company of other lively-minded
people of your age. You'll have
the time now for the book you're
sure is in you, for the family quilt
you’ve always wanted to create,
for the bicycle tour of the Mari-

Eleanor
Godley

pe

THE VINTAGE YEARS

times or New Zealand. If you
fancy learning, and also fancy
travel, look up the Elderhostel
organization — tremendous values
and exciting combinations of
possible enthusiasms.

Or do you just want to sit on
your duff and have a rest?

This is the time, too, to become
a ‘‘presence.’’ Your style is now
defined, it just needs to be refin-
ed. Think of yourself as a
Heritage Building — good basic
proportions there, a little groom-
ing needed, a bit of delicate prop-
ping up maybe, what you'd call
loving maintenance. It's such a
pleasure to the world to be in the
company of a graduate of life
who takes the trouble to groom
the old edges and to dust out the
grungy places and to act like a
Senior Cum Laude.

What it boils down to really is
being realistic, about your health,
your financial support, your con-
ception of what's important and
your capacity for optimism. | find
pleasure in it, finally, but then
I've got you, too.

Glen Eagle Townhomes...

in the Fairwinds tradition of excellence.
ow, overlooking the 16th fairway, 40 beautiful architect-designed
townhomes comprise the newest phase of the spectacular Fair-

winds development.

Ranging in size from 1485 to 2500 square feet, these spacious
2-bedroom, 2-full bath townhomes all feature shake roofs, low mainte-
nance exteriors and high quality finishing. Landscaped courtyards and
sunny balconies or patio areas complement the architectural design.

Plus, all the unmatched amenities of Fairwinds: Schooner Cove
Marina Resort, the 18-hole Fairwinds Golf Course. lakes, beaches, and
1300 acres of beautiful West Coast natural scenery. Townhomes priced

from just $149,000.

I'd Eke more
information on:

Oo Gien Eagle

Townhomes

‘a Fairwinds Province

City

butlding lots
Postal Code

Nee

North & West Vancouver
School Districts

SATURDAY
WORKSHOPS

* Full day workshops include iunch »
Sat. October 13
lucas Centre Classes

BRAIN - GYM PLUS
integrate right/left brain
Hi12 (9am-4) $28

INTRO TO IBM
PAGEMAKER
CC41 (3 Sat., 9am-4) $218

INVESTING FOR WOMEN
MN24 (9am-4) $24

LEARNING DISABILITIES
LS19 (9am-4) $32

MICROWAVE
CF51 (9:30am-12) $18

MICROWAVEICONVECTION
CF52 (ipm-3:30) $18

PC SAMPLER
CC69 (9am-4) $79

ADVERTISING/PROMOTION
FOR SM. BUS.
BM85 (9am-4) $34

SO YOU WANT TO
VOLUNTEER
MF39 (10am-12)

TAILORING
SW72 (3 Sat, 9am-4)

TYPING - ELECTRONIC
SCES (2 Sat.. 9am-12)

WEARABLE ART
FA49 (9am-4)

Free
$90
$28

$38

Sat. October 20
Carson Graham Classes

BLUES HARMONICA .- Intro
MU02 (10am-3) $20

CALLIGRAPHY - Basic
CT07 (9am-4) $28

CHRI"¢ THS
XC16 EULL $28
CHOCOLATE MAKING
CF26 (9am-4) $34

CREATIVE VISUALIZATION
ET46 (9am-4) $28

DIM SUM
CF24 (10am-4)

REDUCING
FATICHOLESTEROL
LS20 (9:30am-2:30)

TIE DYEING
FA45 (9:30am-12)

VIDEO WORKSHOP
VA52 (9am-4)

WEIGHT CONTROL
LS82 (9am-4) $28

tucas Centre Classes

$32

$25

$20

$28

BRIOGE - DUPLICATE
ET22 (9am-4)

FRANCHISING
BM58 (9am-4)

$28
$34

Plus 16 more Sai. classes.
See our Joy of Learning
brochure for details.

Pre-register today