Adjusting to a harsher area-worth it much later???

[shootingstar]

Some great points here. I totally agree that a familiar support system that is already been there for awhile for person is so important..and a diverse support system, not just 1 person.

She might be visiting out of curiosity but I don't think so, because it's not as if Calgary is such a superior place over Vancouver. And I don't know she has much time to visit the Rockies. She doesn't have a fantastic pension to do expensive one-off travels on her own anymore. I know she spends her money carefully just based on social restaurant dinner situations in the past.

I was posing this question theoretically also because we will all have to plan/deal with this at some point in time --for ourselves.

For myself, if pressed, I would be prepared to consider sharing accommodation with a sibling...for sure..or move back to a city where there is family. But for certain, I have made a clear conscious decision to make sure I am already close to services and amenities...now.

I went to a neighbourhood ratepayers association recently. And found half of the volunteer board were semi-retired or retired folks who were still quite active. These are people in their late 50's and up.

[Serendipity]

Have two co-workers who are actively planning to relocate once they retire - one in 2 years, one in 3 years - to live in the same city as their children & grandchildren. That city is over a thousand miles away from where they current live. Don't quite understand the concept of uprooting yourselves from a life to start all over again. Hear from people that have relocated for work reasons that it becomes more difficult to make friends and establish oneself in a new community. Choosing to do so is something I find strange.

And those children and grandchildren have busy lives of their own, so they are not going to be all about making sure the parent(s) are settled and adjusting well; nor should they be. Given the mobility of people and families these days, what happens when those children are transferred to another location or receive another job offer - do you follow them again?

Of course, I do understand if there are financial reasons for moving in with children - would certainly never be my first choice, so I am doing all the planning/saving/investing I can to make sure I never get there......

[nuliajuk]

I suppose it really depends on where in Calgary her son lives. If he's near an LRT station and the river pathway system, she could get around easily by train and ride her bike as well. If he's out in the middle of one of the newer suburbs, it could be isolating.
At least you get Chinook winds in Calgary, so it's not all long and cold in the winter. Although, the mess they make is sometimes not worth the warming. I haven't really missed them since moving to Saskatoon. Here we get a definite winter, then it all melts in one big rush in the spring.

[shootingstar]

to relocate once they retire - one in 2 years, one in 3 years - to live in the same city as their children & grandchildren. That city is over a thousand miles away from where they current live. Don't quite understand the concept of uprooting yourselves from a life to start all over again. Hear from people that have relocated for work reasons that it becomes more difficult to make friends and establish oneself in a new community. Choosing to do so is something I find strange.

And those children and grandchildren have busy lives of their own, so they are not going to be all about making sure the parent(s) are settled and adjusting well; nor should they be.

I would tend to agree with you Serendipity that it is harder to make friends the older one gets. Goodness, we've individually complained about this here several different threads over the years. Adult children have their own lives and it amazes me that one assumes they all equally care about aging parents and express it in the way that we want them to.

Living with a sibling...would mean for me to move back to where I used to live for over 20 yrs. or back another city where I was for over 8 yrs. Places where one still has personal contacts outside of family.

Latest: this friend who is 75 yrs. wants to meet me in a suburb. She's no longer comfortable driving into core of our city..because she seldom drives.

And this is someone remember, who cycled solo 5,000 km. with her stuff across Canada @65 yrs. This is someone who used to lead bike rides, etc. She is not in terms of her life, a helpless female, waiting for a guy to do stuff for her.

Nuj: Her relocated son lives in Airdrie, north of Calgary. Maybe she's made up her mind after all, to stay in the Greater VAncouver. At least, she's lucky that she has a son who wants to be near him when she gets older.