UK Man, 103, and his Wife Move to New Zealand

Talk about fulfilling lifelong dreams! According to TV Program called Cornwall--Expats Abroad,BBC TV , a 103-year-old man and his wife from the UK finally moved to the place they always wanted to - New Zealand.

While I was in England over New Year's, I watched the show about UK residents from Cornwall, England, making the tough decision to move or not-to-move to Australia or New Zealand. Most of the couples depicted in the show are in their 30s and have children. Some are older couples with teens. But no one expected to see an elderly man-who looked like he was in his 80s-to put his house up for sale and get ready to relocate to New Zealand with his wife of 12 years.

It turns out that the man is 103 years old and his wife isn't much younger. They met when their partners died. Someone was researching their family origins in "the land down under," and that's how they got together. They found out they share the same surname.

Now they're sharing the dream of moving to New Zealand where both their families began so many years ago.

The centurion-plus doesn't worry about what life will be like in his new home so far away. He has said his good-byes to friends, neighbors and whatever family he has left-and looks forward to settling in with his wife in his new house and community a 24-hour plane trip away.

Most people decades younger than this gentleman would be anxious about how it will all work out. But not this man.

"At my age, I don't worry about tomorrow," he says. "Two people go to bed at night and we don't know who's going to wake up. When we both do, it's a good day."
A BBC-TV journalist reporting on this story said that this man gives new meaning to the expression Seize the Day. And so he does. At a time when people routinely obsess about jobs, retirement, money, health care and the future in general, this man and his wife give us a little hope by truly taking one day at a time-and by showing us that if you don't think it' too late, it isn't.

I'm taking something away form this couple's story. When we're young, we're more eager to take risks in life--live abroad for years before settling down, take on a job that's not career orientated or start a business. Risk-taking is a lot easier when you believe you have many years ahead of you. But when you see middle-age couples or, as in this case, a man over one hundred years old and his wife taking a major risk--it's very inspiring.

I'll be 55 in March, and I'm planning a big move. When I get scared--and I do quite often as this move comes closer--I'm going to think about how brave and optimistic this man and his wife have been in going on with their lives--no matter how short or long. And so should you: if you're waiting for something to make you change your life, maybe this is it. Do something soon about leaving that miserable job and getting another one, or retiring to another country or going back for that degree in psychology you always wanted. You don't have to wait until you're 103.

Source:

TV Program called Cornwall--Expats Abroad, appeared December, 2007
BBC TV