Right here I am at my 1960’s residence in Clarke Street Benalla. We built the residence during the year of 1967 when houses were affordable and the interest rate was 3.75%. Our home was considered to be large, 12.2 squares! Right now it is an insignificant size.
Right now I am in my 86th year. I am fit, content, comfortable and satisfied with my life. I accept my own mortality and consider every day a blessing. I rise at 7.00 a.m. daily and exercise at the Benalla Hydrotherapy Pool for 40 minutes.
My wife is a whiz in the garden and, to the envy of others, is quite content to mow the lawn.
I am easily occupied with reading, crosswords and my involvement in 2 Probus clubs, Rotary and U3A. I am also chairman of the Cemetery Trust and still perform a number of honorary audits.
I keep saying that I will go back to playing bowls, but I cannot find the enthusiasm. Strange, after being an ardent bowler since 1957.
Our land development interest has reached the stage where only two blocks remain unsold. We will shortly be obliged to depend on our dwindling superannuation funded allocated pensions, and the Centrelink pension, for survival. Nevertheless our financial adviser has just produced a chart which shows that we are financial at least until I reach the age of one hundred and one.
After having had a number of cruising holidays which I always enjoyed thoroughly, I made the mistake of saying that I was ‘cruised out’. Consequently cruises no longer seem to be on our agenda. We have however, seemingly, resolved to do car trips of several days duration, around Victoria, and have also booked a trip to Kangaroo Island through Lakeside Probus early in the new year. We will have to reconsider future travel; our daughter-in-law, who is a mobile travel agent, is always ready to assist.
The U3A organisation continues to stimulate me as it does with so many other seniors. I am not as involved as I was early in my retirement and hold no executive position. The ‘winery walkabout’ and ‘armchair-travelling’ sections provide me with relaxation, while ‘singing for fun’ and the ‘writing workshop’ stimulate me. We have two ‘singing for fun’ concerts coming up next month and the ‘writing workshop’ always provides a challenge. I sometimes wonder if the other contributors to the workshop consider me to be self- centred, but I take the opportunity to write personal experiences, the writing of which I expect to be able to hand down to my children and grand children.
As an ‘elder’ of the Rotary Club I find my membership very relaxing. I also feel at ease in the role of Chairman of the Rotary Paul Harris Fellow committee.
In home life the devotion of my family gives me great satisfaction. As one who never had a family life in my youth, the absence of sibling contact has made me adamant that it won’t happen again. Ever since my children left home I have made a practice of phoning each one of them every Sunday evening. There may, at times, be nothing to talk about, but I am, at least, making contact.
Right Here! and Right Now! I am a very fulfilled person.
Ray O’Shannessy
24th October, 2017.
Right now I am in my 86th year. I am fit, content, comfortable and satisfied with my life. I accept my own mortality and consider every day a blessing. I rise at 7.00 a.m. daily and exercise at the Benalla Hydrotherapy Pool for 40 minutes.
My wife is a whiz in the garden and, to the envy of others, is quite content to mow the lawn.
I am easily occupied with reading, crosswords and my involvement in 2 Probus clubs, Rotary and U3A. I am also chairman of the Cemetery Trust and still perform a number of honorary audits.
I keep saying that I will go back to playing bowls, but I cannot find the enthusiasm. Strange, after being an ardent bowler since 1957.
Our land development interest has reached the stage where only two blocks remain unsold. We will shortly be obliged to depend on our dwindling superannuation funded allocated pensions, and the Centrelink pension, for survival. Nevertheless our financial adviser has just produced a chart which shows that we are financial at least until I reach the age of one hundred and one.
After having had a number of cruising holidays which I always enjoyed thoroughly, I made the mistake of saying that I was ‘cruised out’. Consequently cruises no longer seem to be on our agenda. We have however, seemingly, resolved to do car trips of several days duration, around Victoria, and have also booked a trip to Kangaroo Island through Lakeside Probus early in the new year. We will have to reconsider future travel; our daughter-in-law, who is a mobile travel agent, is always ready to assist.
The U3A organisation continues to stimulate me as it does with so many other seniors. I am not as involved as I was early in my retirement and hold no executive position. The ‘winery walkabout’ and ‘armchair-travelling’ sections provide me with relaxation, while ‘singing for fun’ and the ‘writing workshop’ stimulate me. We have two ‘singing for fun’ concerts coming up next month and the ‘writing workshop’ always provides a challenge. I sometimes wonder if the other contributors to the workshop consider me to be self- centred, but I take the opportunity to write personal experiences, the writing of which I expect to be able to hand down to my children and grand children.
As an ‘elder’ of the Rotary Club I find my membership very relaxing. I also feel at ease in the role of Chairman of the Rotary Paul Harris Fellow committee.
In home life the devotion of my family gives me great satisfaction. As one who never had a family life in my youth, the absence of sibling contact has made me adamant that it won’t happen again. Ever since my children left home I have made a practice of phoning each one of them every Sunday evening. There may, at times, be nothing to talk about, but I am, at least, making contact.
Right Here! and Right Now! I am a very fulfilled person.
Ray O’Shannessy
24th October, 2017.
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