The Daniels

Who would have thought John & Shirrell Daniel would have ended up at Sandycove Acres at their ages?

John and Shirrell were childhood friends as a result of both their families having summer cottages in the Alcona area. Although they were both raised in the city they were country kids at heart. After marriage they still continued to spend as much time as they could returning to their childhood roots in cottage country. Years later, they moved to Innisfil from their family home in Mississauga knowing retirement was within reach for them both in the next few years. Having a large custom home built down by the water allowed them to take on the care of both their mothers whose health did not permit them to live on their own. So now with three boys, the care of both their mothers, working in Toronto and trying to keep up the house, life was pretty hectic. Within a couple of years their mothers went to long term care facilities consequently leaving the lower level of their home unused. The boys came and went using the basement apartment as the need arose. However, once their sons became more established in their jobs and moved out, the house was looking too big for John and Shirrell. They started thinking about downsizing to a smaller home. The goal was for 4 to 5 years down the line.

John retired in 2002 after working 35 years for the railroad. That left Shirrell commuting from Innisfil to Toronto for a few more years. With the cost of gas, wear and tear on her car, and the extra time spent commuting it was time to realistically look at whether it was worth it for her to continue working for a couple more years to reach her 35 year service mark. Shirrell took on a job working part-time for the Sandycove Sales office in 2004 as an initial step towards her retirement plan. “I knew I couldn’t retire cold turkey after being in the workforce for so many years and not have a game plan. I wanted to continue working but in a less stressful type of job and closer to home”. She worked both jobs for a couple of years until she made her decision to retire after 33 years service take her pension early and continue to work part-time with Sandycove”.

Shirrell says she has met so many wonderful people coming through the Sales Office. She followed through their plans to purchase, saw them move in, and heard them say things like “Why didn’t I do this sooner” or “Best decision we’ve ever made”! Shirrell started to rethink their own plan for downsizing and the wheels set in motion from there. She had John come over one night after hours to view a model home in The Enclaves…Sandycove’s newest development of bungalow style homes. That was it! Decision made! They went home, called a Real Estate agent and a For Sale sign was on their lawn before you could blink. Within days they had an offer on their home and in turn they put in an offer on a Northwind model on Trellis Lane in Sandycove’s South Park. Their plan became a reality. The purging and packing started. To go from over 3000 sq ft of living space down to just under 1500 was going to be a real challenge.

The homeowners on Trellis Lane were anxious to know when they were going to move in. They had all come through the Sales Office for their purchases so Shirrell got to meet and help them with a smooth transition to their new homes. “Where else can you move in and already know all your neighbours”? John being a little more on the shy side, made the move quite easily based on Shirrell’s good word that she knew he would feel comfortable amongst his new neighbours. “We couldn’t ask for friendlier people”, says John. “In fact, we were having dinner our second night in the house when the doorbell rang. We answered to find someone standing there with a huge lemon pie and a card to welcome us to our new home in Sandycove Acres. We were truly touched. It’s kind of like camping. You
make up your bedroll, tidy and unzip your tent then greet the day and your fellow campers. Here in Sandycove we do the same….make the bed, tidy the house and open our front door to hear…How are you neighbour? How’s it going today”? Where they lived before, although they had lovely neighbours, everyone seemed to be on a rushed schedule. “If we got a wave going from our car to the door that was about it. People were too busy to take a few minutes to stop and chat for a bit”. Shirrell says, “Sandycove has certainly slowed us down in a take time to smell the roses kind of way. We’re doing the things we want to do now. We are not overcome by the upkeep of a huge home and property. We have only been here a few months and we have joined darts, have gone to a concert, and even booked
our New Year’s Eve”.

Shirrell plays Euchre and has sat in at The Computer Club. “And there’s more to come”, they say. A few of the neighbours have asked John to join them for a game of Billiards a few times a week and Shirrell hopes to join the Camera Club once they get a bit more settled. Shirrell jokes, “We’ll have to take it slower or we’ll never be home in order to enjoy our lovely new digs”!

John was worried about giving up his garage/workshop. However, by purchasing one of the new bungalows he was able to set up his work shop (keeping ALL his tools much to Shirrell’s dismay) in their attached storage. After erecting a small shed the gardening tools and lawnmower were easily accommodated as well. John also has the availability of the on-site Woodworking Shop where he has the use of a wide selection of tools for any of his larger projects. All in all, the space they lost due to downsizing from their larger home was in rooms they were really not using anymore. “After spending most of the summer finding places for all our belongings,hanging pictures, and starting some gardens we are beginning to settle into a more relaxed pace”. John says. “This is what retirement
is all about. A more manageable property cost-wise, less grass to cut and the decision to purchase a brand new home gives us the comfort of knowing we don’t have to think about repairs and renovations for many years to come. Our household chores and expenses have basically been cut in half. Shirrell says, “Cleaning a huge home and working was very time consuming and tiring. Heating empty rooms in this economy just didn’t make any sense. Now I grab my Swiffer, dust through the rooms, spruce up the bathrooms and ponder about how to spend the rest of our day.

John and Shirrell say to all the Baby Boomers out there….”Start your retirement plan earlier if you can. Being from the sandwich generation we got lost somewhere between bringing up our kids and caring for our aging parents. Now it’s our turn”!