Escaping the Rat Race…
Coolest 'rat race' image courtesy of the Harrison Lake Sand Sculpture Competition 2006
C.E. Grundler
It’s interesting how certain characters and plot twists can break free of the original outline and take on a life of their own. By this point I’ve almost come to expect it, so there’s no surprise when characters I’d intended as minor background players step forward and start calling out their own actions and dialog, taking the plot in a new direction. And such is the case with a married couple in my third story, a pair of live-aboards from a distinctly different background than my main characters. But now I find myself needing to flesh out a bit more of their back-story, and I realized perhaps a bit of insight from a few of you would be invaluable.
None of these details are set in stone, so I have leeway to change facts as needed, but here’s the general picture. We’re talking about a married couple, together since college. They’re in their early fifties now, their two children are grown and out of the house, it’s just them and one very lazy cat that only moves to the sound of a can-opener. They had the perfect life: good, high-paying jobs, a beautiful house in the suburbs, and a 38’(?) sailboat (suggestions?) they presently have little time to use but dream of cruising aboard… someday, when they both retire. But then there’s a health scare, a close friend suddenly passes away, the commutes are getting longer and more stressful, taxes are climbing, life is consuming them. They both wonder what are they waiting for, and decide to jump off the treadmill – sell the house, put the money in the bank, and live aboard the boat. That brings us to the present, but it’s that breaking the bonds to land and decades of possessions that has me scratching my head. Myself, I’m still balancing both the house and boat, and when I consider the magnitude of what’s involved I wonder: how did you all do it? The house itself is one thing, but what about the contents? Furniture, heirlooms, photos and paintings, books… the list goes one. Yes, some can go to the kids, but what of the things they can’t take/don’t want/the couple might want to keep for themselves if they decide this ‘boat life’ isn’t working for them and they want to return to a house down the road.
So, simply put, how did those of you who have taken those steps deal with those possessions from life before the boat, and why?
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