Watching a dear couple retiring from RV life

[Chrisatthebeach]

When I was fortunate enough to return to this beautiful area that is home we were between houses and I stayed for a little over a year in an RV park that is used by elderly people escaping the cold northern winters as well as temporary labor coming in to work through the booming economy in Savannah.

The first month I was in a site next to an older couple from Michigan that had purchased a park model travel trailer and had been staying here since 2005. I was a neighbor to them for the end of 1 winter and part of another.

They kept the trailer on the site year round and went home to Michigan for the summers and returned every year just before Thanksgiving and would head back north just ahead of tax time at the first of April. They have been making this trip all of these years in a 1991 Cadillac that has never let them down.

Sad to say they have informed me this year will be the last. The drive down takes 2-3 days and the cost to keep the trailer stored through the winter is getting to be too high, plus the trailer is approaching 11 years old and is rapidly deteriorating.

I think this year the toll the ride took on them coming from the UP of Michigan to SC, add to that all of the future repairs or possible replacement of the trailer is more than they can stand.

The sad thing is they started doing this as the winters up north were so hard on both of them they bought the RV and spent the last 10 years shutting down the house in MI and enjoying the warm winters down here. After hearing how much they dreaded the cold I am sure they are not looking forward to the final years being cold.

I am working to help them sell out after this last winter and will come away with being blessed to know both of them, and will also go away with a sadness that the dream they enjoyed for over a decade is coming to an end to be replaced by cold winters and the complications of getting older.

I am not sure what the takeaway is from this. I am happy to know they went for it and had many winters in a good climate. They spent many seasons here with other retirees from the same area and these two have outlived all of them.

Just sad to see them go.

Enjoy everyday you have, and help everyone you meet. We will all be faced with retiring or helping someone through this.


Chris

[slickest1]

It is a sad story but very common. I personally know three people in that situation caused either by health, old age or loss of spouse.
The year before last in the park we were in in Yuma we met two different couples that were calling it quits. I hope we can get in a few more winters south and have the good memories that come with being there and meeting all the people with similar interests.
Like said above we will all get there! It has been a privilege to know them.

[CopilotCompanio]

Chris, God bless you, you are an old soul. Thanks for reminding me to cherish every moment I have with my ailing husband who is also at an advanced age. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls"?

[colliehauler]

It's their choice, they could sell the house in MI and move to warmer climate for their final years. Decisions we all have to make eventually.

I know a couple at my seasonal site that in 2015 he had a stroke at 81 and she had cancer in 2016. Both are recovering. They are not able to drive long distances by themselves anymore. They just bought the RV they always wanted in 2014 and might have to sell the RV. Hard decision for sure.

Another couple at the campground offered to drive down and pick them up for summer. The husband would drive the couples car for them so they would have a vehicle to use for summer. About 6 hrs each way.

Another option if they have children is for the kids to do something similar.

[GaryGus]

Thanks for this cool post. It'll happen to all of us old guys, so it's nice to know others will notice and care a little.