I find myself often thinking of my own mortality lately, and it’s not exactly in the way you would think.
My fiancé and I have a camp in rural Nova Scotia, where we spend most weekends. It’s handy to a ski hill, there’s ATV and snowmobile trails everywhere, a nice river, and some gorgeous mountains. We have wonderful neighbours that feel more like family (I’m talking to you, Joey and Darren!) It’s a wonderful community and we feel so blessed to spend time there. It truly is my happy place. I had a thought the other day out of the blue.... this place will be standing long after we’re gone. This simultaneously fills me with joy and sadness. Joy that others will get to enjoy it as we have for years and generations to come, but so much sadness that things can’t always continue as they are. We get older, we travel less, and camp life isn’t for the faint of heart or even the weak of bones!
With camp life also comes having a second kitchen. This one came with most of its contents, including a cute ancient Westinghouse stove and the greatest old coffeemaker. The coffee maker is what set this musing of my own mortality in motion, believe it or not... as we don’t have running water, I didn’t want to get the reusable coffee filter, as it’s kind of hard to clean. I went to Costco to get a package of coffee filters that would last a while. I did. $3.99 for 650 filters. That’s a pretty sweet deal. Then it struck me. We are only there 2 nights a week maximum. That’s only 1-2 pots of coffee per weekend. And sometimes we skip a weekend when we need to see friends or have a family event, or the roads are bad... So. If we only end up going every 2nd weekend, this package of coffee filters could potentially last me up to TWELVE YEARS. I’m only young, a whopping 39 years old. But it’s definitely possible that I bought my last package of coffee filters.
We never know how long we have. A wise client of mine told me ‘We’re not promised tomorrow’ and she’s very right. I don’t think she’d be delighted with me equating that profound wisdom to coffee filters, but all the same, that’s where my head went.
As a Family Service Counsellor and Pre-Planning Advisor, I am fascinated by the tales that people tell me. The AH HA moment that made them want to come have the conversation with me. So if you have questions, or you’d like to share a story with me, I would love to hear from you. Call me directly at 902-870-0747, or email at Caroline@peaceofmindplanning.ca
