My Epiphany January 28, 2023

Sitting at my pool one afternoon a few weeks after my arrival in Club Santiago,  the realization of my inability to afford to ever again spend winters in Mexico interrupted my enjoyment of the warm sunny weather.   

At one time I had enjoyed snowy winters - that was when I was young and then when the grandkids (who now had kids of their own!) were small and we had fun with them, skating, tobogganing, building campfires to keep warm.  But the older I got, the enjoyment began turning to a deep dislike of the freezing elements that chilled me to the bone.  Literally!.  

For twenty years before Covid, Mexico had been my refuge and Don's before his death. Alas, what was I to do without Mexico and its warm sunshine in my life, however long or short that may be?  

Suddenly, I sat upright as I yelled to myself (inside my head! Lol) - "Why am I going back to Canada? I can stay in Mexico!  I'll become a Permanent Resident.  I can cancel my rental contract at the Retirement Apartments in Collingwood; sell everything I own, keeping only my clothes and a few personal items.  Then I could return to Canada in the summer and visit with different family members for a time."  

This seemed like a brilliant solution!  I immediately set out to do my due diligence about moving.

First I contacted an Immigration consultant who came highly recommended.  In a telephone interview with her, the consultant walked me through what I needed in finances and documents in order to make an application for this visa.  I set about contacting my financial institutions and got the ball rolling in that area.  

A month had passed as I busied myself with these tasks, while enjoying the good life in Mexico and telling everyone I knew what I was doing!   Although I thought I might face some resistance from family members, thankfully they all supported my decision with only one cautionary comment about taxes and health care.  

My eldest grandson told me that he thought I was the coolest Nana on the planet, "because you're doing what the GEN Z'eders are doing but you are nearly 90!"  

Not one person said I was crazy, at least not to me.  Instead, when the look of shock on their faces changed to broad grins, the usual comment was "what a fantastic idea". 

Everything seemed to be falling into place, like it was "meant to be", as friends told me.  Then a dark cloud appeared on the horizon of my bright future.