As We Age, The Space We Occupy Starts To Shrink. Downsizing Is A Rollercoaster Of Memories | Robyn Read

This house I am leaving was the first I bought in my name only. Now the pictures have been taken, potential buyers will come and appraise my exterior life

It is time to go. Time to say goodbye to the house I have lived in for 37 years. Downsizing – that word implies a shrinking world. Getting older, needing smaller, family gone, not fit for steps, last stop pending.

I know I’m lucky to have come from a generation which planted a foot on the ladder of the housing market 55 years ago – that doesn’t make the leaving of this house any easier. With generational inequality constantly being pondered by us early boomers, it seems gratuitous to tell our struggle stories. But our homes were the nest where we raised our families. Now the nest is too big, empty. Its upkeep too demanding.