I bought a chandelier off of Craigslist the other day. It was being sold in the town I live in so I sandwiched a trip to view it between dropping off and picking up my daughter from dance lessons. While there, I got to know a lot about the sellers, and the interesting adventure they are about to embark on.

People often open up to me like that, telling me their whole story. This one had a familiar ring to it, as if this could have been us... in an alternate universe... A universe where we don't still have a teenager, MIL doesn't have dementia, the house doesn't need boat-loads of work, and I don't have a bum hip.

The couple selling the fixture were just a few years younger than Hubby and I. The husband had worked for the last 20 years in a similar occupation and was recently laid off. The wife had spent her time raising kids, who are now grown. Like us, they'd inherited a house and had been uprooted. Unlike us, they're renting their inherited house out, parting with all their earthly possessions, and retiring to India!

I remember being newly married and talking about our dreams for the future. Though India wasn't mentioned, retiring early and having an adventure was. I usually try not to spend too much time thinking about all the 'might-have-beens' for fear of making myself unhappy with what really is.

Happily, my encounter with this couple didn't make me feel wistful, or unhappy at all. I was happy for them because they seemed so enthusiastic and excited about their trip. Though meeting them did trigger some emotions, it wasn't of envy or sadness about what we cannot do. It was more like revisiting what we'd wanted to do all those years ago, appreciating the appeal, then awakening to the fact that I no longer crave that 'grand adventure'. My life already IS an adventure!

I may be weird, but I derive tremendous satisfaction from the little journeys I take every day. Driving my daughter to school I pass under a canopy of leaves in greens, golds, and now red. I breeze past vineyards and fields, inhale the aroma of dew on dried grass, and relish the company of my last (soon to be grown) child.

I feel the same about taking MIL to appointments. I see her in a new light and appreciate her in a way that I never have before. I'm so happy not to be missing this! Even sifting though the rubble of FIL's estate has been an adventure, a combination of discovery and resolution. Though it has been a major challenge, it hasn't been all bad.

Interspersed amidst the hoards, FIL had stashed little little bags of treasure. On the very back wall, almost the last thing I unearthed, he'd stashed a very LARGE bag of treasure! Did he forget it was there? Did he do this for a safe hiding spot? Or did he leave it specifically for the person who cleaned up the mess to find.

It's clear that at some point he stopped investing for his own benefit and put his focus on making sure he left enough to cover all of his grandchildren's education, which he did very well. It's clear that he'd been thinking of us for a very long time. We did not know how much until he was gone.

Though I wasn't mentioned in the trust, I think he was thinking of me with regards to these little stashes. He knew I would be the one sorting through his stuff and setting the house aright. One of the last things he said to me was to apologize for the state of the house, and for not fixing anything. Well, he need not feel too bad.

These stashes were sufficient to provide everything I need to fix the house. If I'm conservative, there may even be enough left over to fix my hip! After all, there still may be some travel in our future. Until then, I'm enjoying the adventures I'm having right here.