Accepting Aging Gracefully

We have been leasing a fantastic island cottage for several years now.  It is a wonderful old 1920s cottage, the island is situated on a beautiful lake, and we have spent many peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable weeks during the summer months engaged in island living.  We have friends on the lake and many friends and relatives who spend the summer nearby.  It is a perfect summer lifestyle.

However, one day the owners will decide to sell the island and we agonize over whether we would be able to buy it.  Given that we are in our 60s and are only going to get older, that we invested in a fantastic kitchen extension on our house a few years ago using our Home Owner Line of Credit, and really don't want to tie up our savings (not to mention some of our cash flow) on a second property, it is highly likely that we will decide that it doesn't make sense to buy a cottage property at this point in our lives.

I have to admit that losing access to this cottage will be devastating to me.  I love being on the water, I love the laid back lifestyle, the privacy, and the fact that we connect with so many friends and family in this place.   I'm always trying to concoct schemes that will make buying the island a possibility.   My husband is less disturbed about losing access to the cottage; he takes the more philosophical view that we will find new and interesting things to do during the summer; he has no great interest in ever renting a cottage again.  As a retirement planner, I would probably advise someone else in the same circumstances to do the practical and rational thing, i.e. let it go, but as a person I might say that not all decisions in life should be based solely on rational thinking and that sometimes decisions based on emotional considerations should be pursued.  What do you think?