Investing in Relationships

I have to do 2 retirement seminars out of town and we have decided that my husband, along with Max, our miniature daschund, will come with me on this road trip.  Part way through the trip we will spend the weekend with his niece and her husband.  Since my husband and I have no children, it is important for us to cultivate and maintain a close relationship with those in the next generation within our family.  Of our 4 nieces, one lives close by, one lives about a 6 hour drive away and the other two live thousands of miles away.

When the niece who lives a 6 hour drive away was in university in Montreal, we encouraged her to visit us on long weekends and she did.  We have gotten to know her quite well as a result.  Both she and her husband and my husband and I make an effort to keep in touch.  Her husband sends us a monthly newsy report on what they are up to, we talk on the phone regularly, and also make an effort to have face to face visits as often as we can.

Good family relationships don't just happen; it takes a commitment and personal effort to nurture and strengthen these relationships.  One of the joys of retirement is that individuals have more time to devote to the important people in their lives.  We are really looking forward to visiting with our niece and her husband while on my seminar trip and I know that it is an investment of our time that will strengthen our ties within them.

Investing in Relationships

With aging comes the loss of important people in our lives.  Once people leave work, many find that they no longer have much contact with work friends.  Parents and elderly relatives pass away.  And we even experience the loss of  people who are around our age, or perhaps even younger. 

Our social network in retirement is critical to our sense of well being.  Maintaining it and building upon it is pretty important.   This weekend we took the time to visit one of our nieces who lives a good day's drive away.  We recognize that, since we have no children of our own, it is important to enhance our relationships with members of the next generation within our family.  These relationships don't just happen.  While they obviously have to be built upon mutual interests and regard, there is no time like the present to make this a priority.

How can you ensure, as you move into your 70s and 80s,  that you have a strong and supportive social network?  Are there family members that you could become closer to, especially in the next generation?  Family plays a critical role in our lives; nurturing and building up our relationships with family, can only be of mutual benefit as time passes on.