I remember staying at my Uncle and Aunt’s place during a few weeks every summer when I was eight.
Mostly, I hung by myself, then sometimes followed by my Uncle, then finally my Aunt. My Uncle was a Judge, so he was pretty busy during the day. Unfortunately, my Aunt was an alcoholic (and actually died of liver problems later in life), so she never felt like playing much.
My Aunt and Uncle lived in a cottage directly beside the Delaware river (salt water not fresh). I enjoyed waves, watching ships and the occasional submarine float up and down the river. On the river (and beach), there were constantly excellent sea life to watch (blue fiddler crabs, eels, snapper turtles, fish, etc).
My uncle would walk his dog ever evening down a deserted road to an old lighthouse that was now owned by a hunting club. Sometimes on the way, he would pick blackberries for the elderly woman at the end of the street.
Occasionally, when he would come home from court, he would pour himself a glass of Scotch (Glenlivet), and light his pipe, then go out on his enclose porch. Next he would read the paper, or just look outside towards the river.
I thought, wow, what a great lifestyle. I wanted to have a cottage on the Delaware river too, and do as my Uncle did, except the smoking of the pipe.
That was a long time ago, and now that I’m grown up… I’m nothing like that. I do have sitting chair that’s pretty close to what my Uncle had, but that’s where the similarities end. My Uncle lived well but overall had a pretty frugal existence. After he passed (my Aunt passed years earlier than he did), he had ended up with over a millionaire dollars in net worth. But nobody was really surprised in my family.
How did you imagine your adult life being like when you are pre-teen? Mine is different, but still good!
-MR
Thanks for the post. I guess my life turned out a lots different than my preteen picture also I grew up in a rural area but always dreaming of living in a big city. I do live in a big city it wasn’t as rosie as my picture but really close.
My life is way better now than I imagined it as a kid.
Coming from a frugal family by necessity, I’m happy to know now that the frugal decisions I make now are my choice, not something I must do in order to survive.
In my family, expensive stuff= success= happiness. Thanksgiving conversation usually centered around business and what they bought and how much it cost. I always thought I’d be working the best paying job that I can tolerate in order to finance a life of luxury cars and expensive clothes.
Then, junior year in college, I was in a finance class listening to my classmates talk about their future, about how they would consider themselves a failure if they don’t have a luxury car by the time they’re 25, of how they NEED to be making well over six figures by the time they hit 30, etc. and it was the most depressing conversation ever. I remember thinking, “I don’t want to work with, live with, or hang around these kind of people, they are INSANE!”
Now, I lead a pretty humble life and I’m happy to not have the pressure of always needing to show off or keep up with anyone. My job may not pay much but it’s enough to pay the bill (and then some) and it’s a job that I love in a field that I really enjoy.
My life is generally what I imagined…although I would never have imagined the specifics. I always wanted to fall in love, get married, and have fun as an adult instead of being run down all the time like the adults I knew. So far, so good.
I get run down once in a while but I concentrate on building relationships and having fun experiences. I am truly thankful for my husband, close friends, family, and now, my blog. 🙂
It’s similar to what I imagined, but I’m still waiting on that picket fence! I think I had two very different images of the type of life I wanted: one was the domestic bliss with kids and white fence (I’m closer to this ideal, I think), and the other was an archaeological explorer (think National Geographic!). I missed the mark on the second lifestyle I had envisioned, however I’m quite independent, so maybe it’s coming true just in a slightly different form.
You know, as a kid I used to try to imagine what things might be liked when I grew up, but I could never quite picture anything in particular. So I guess that since I now do a whole bunch of random things, it’s pretty close 😉
My life is way, way, way better than I ever imagined it could be. I didn’t have many great examples in my neighborhood, so I feel so very fortunate.
@Robert
Almost is pretty good!
@Sandy L
Good to hear, and since I read your site and know how young you are, I’m sure it’s just going to keep getting better and better!!! 🙂
@Jin6655321
My grandparents had rough childhoods, especially my grandmother’s side of the family. She was a warm, intelligent lady ahead of her time! She determined our families spending habits, so we learned the lessons of frugality from her. Being especially close to her, I learned many of her trial and hardships growing up in the great depression (even if she was very young then). So quite literally, I’m a product of my grandmother’s wisedom.
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
I started off bad, when I was young, I had plans of going to the west or east coast. I didnt’ make it 🙁
It’s good to hear someone who’s adult life turned out exactly as the thought it would!
Being an avid reader of your blog, I think you experience the existence of your blog as an extension of your being, except in an electronic sense! So I can see how it’s very enjoyable for you, while a mild to do for others. 🙂
Little House
Hmmm, I like the idea of 2 different versions of your vision of your adult reality. It’s interesting how your are blending the 2 version to create something unique, even from your initial visions! Very cool!!!
Jackie
Randomness and being highly creative are both great things. I can see how not being confined by a vision as a kid would aid you in become many thing all at once! Very cool
@Everyday Tips
My Uncle was an incredible man, but as an eight year old, I did’t totally realize it at the time. I still appreciated and admired him, but I didn’t realize how cool he was. Where he lived was cool (his friend had a boat and we use to go out boating on the huge Delaware river), his activites and basic all around style (frugal as he was).
You are carving your own dream and being your own role model! I think that is a great way to go!!! Based on what I’ve read on your blog, it sounds like you are your kid’s role model 🙂
I swore that I would be able to afford a/c in the summer and live in a place that actually got warm in the winter (@#$# radiant heat from the ceiling). One day, like Scarlett O’Hara, I got down on my knees and swore I would never be too hot or too cold again, not if I could help it.
And I did!
Other than that I’m not sure.
@Nicole
Kudos to you! I still wish I would had moved out west… 🙂
Well, I still wish that too… but the a/c is happily strumming along even now at 7am. Grow where you’re planted and all that.
@Money Reasons, “I think you experience the existence of your blog as an extension of your being”. Yes, exactly. My blog and my online community are just as important to me as my “real” life community. 🙂
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
Me too! Sometimes it hard to break away and do family stuff.
It’s all about balance 🙂
@Nicole
Family is what is keeping me rooted. The West coast life will never happen… 🙁 But it’s still all good 🙂