Depressing but a must read for all RV'ers...

road glide wrote:
This is why we all do RVing....

And so there must come an end...

For me, this is why I have belief in Jesus Christ. But we should spend every day as our last! Make the most of life.

As I sit here 3 1/2 years into my fight against cancer I am so glad I was able to quit work at age 52 and travel (9 months/year) for 10 years. Lot's of memories from those years on the road. Had I waited until "retirement" age (I'm nearly 66 now) we would never have had all those experiences. The good news is I'm now 17 months cancer free.

That is the reason we started fulltiming early, Our best friend died from cancer three weeks after he was diagnosed. I too am a cancer patient. We had planned to start when I reached 65 but when diagnosed I was only 57, we sold our house 3 months later, bought the best motorhome we could afford and hit the road. We have no regrets and are enjoying every minute of it. Sure we have to workamp to afford it and still keep a little money in reserve but we love camphosting so all is well. The doctors have given me between 5 and ten years from when I was diagnosed so we are doing what we want and enjoying however much time we have left together. I too tell everyone who tells me they would like to fulltime one day, why not now before it is too late.

turbojimmy wrote:
Instant perspective as I was sitting here wondering whether it's worth the hassle to get the RV ready for a weekend trip with the kids. Not wondering anymore.

Bravo and kudos to you and your loved ones!

I've just finished reading "The Last Lecture", which tells the story of a college professor of "Virtual Reality" (a computer specialization) at Carnegie-Mellon University. He died in his mid 40's of severe pancreatic cancer, leaving behind a wife and three young children.

It's a very uplifting story and well worth the time to read it.

From this Blog... A cry, and a smile.... :-)

I've posted before that the purchase of our RV was a bit early in our "plan." My wife and I have been "planning" to get a nice used coach when I retire in about 5 years. We've been going to RV shows and camper lots looking and dreaming, but that dream, even though we were "planning," seemed so far away and unreachable. About 2 weeks before we discovered our coach for sale, my wife was having a conversation over a glass of wine with a friend of ours about our retirement plans to purchase a coach and go see the country. Our friend turned silent and communicated that that was also her and her husband's "plan"...right up until he died unexpectedly of a heart attack about 5 years before he retired. Her words of advice to us were, "Don't Wait" and my wife and her shared a few tears before they parted. Literally, two weeks later, we were sitting at the bank making arrangements to buy the coach that we now have when it divinely appeared in a driveway less than three blocks from my house, where I pass by EVERY day on my way to and from work, from an elderly couple that I've known my entire life, with a For-Sale sign in the front window. Again, it was not in my "plan" but I guess sometimes "plans" need to be modified.

My condolences to the writer's family, and my heartfelt thanks for the reminder that we did the right thing!!

The future is known to no one.........

i have unfortunately (or is it fortunately) sat in the lobbies of MD Anderson Cancer Center quite a bit recently and as i look around its the families and friends (that are in attendance w/ the patients) that seem to be struggling w/ the seriousness of their loved ones diagnoses and uncertain fate.

It seems to me that its the friends and families are the ones that suffer the most when it comes to cancer....patients get treated and are prescribed meds for pain. Cancer patients have closure (one way or another)....but loved ones suffer much longer.

Too often I meet people (when traveling in our RV) who say "when I retire i want to get an RV and travel around".....i respond and recommend that they NOT WAIT....do it now, while they can...because retirement (or life long enough to retire is not guaranteed !

may GOD Bless Charlotte (and the loved ones she's left behind) and may they all rest in peace and comfort.

Amazing read.
Like many my age, I have had many people around me die. Mostly relatives but some friends as well. This has made me appreciate our position ie, we're healthy, have the time and funds to enjoy life so we do as much as we can. Now.

Instant perspective as I was sitting here wondering whether it's worth the hassle to get the RV ready for a weekend trip with the kids. Not wondering anymore.

A good job of putting priorities into perspective.