The Plan

            “What’s The Kuzma Plan?”

            “Well,” Kevin drawled. “Jeff  and I were sitting on the beach watching our kids playing in the surf, when Jeff  suddenly commented, ‘If only I could figure out how to make a living doing this.’ That got us thinking. We’re already in our forties. Unless we make some changes soon, we’re never going to get ahead. Let’s face it, Angela and I can only teach so many children; and Jeff  and Kari can only fix so many motorcycles or see so many PT patients—and you, Mom, can only write so many books. So we’ve come up with a plan that can make more profit from the time invested—so we have more time to do what really feeds our souls. The sky’s the limit. We can jump-start our lives--if we just work together as a family.”

            “Sounds interesting!” I said nodding my head.

            At that point, I realized how much the son had become like the father. One of the personality traits that the kids loved most about their dad was when he breezed into the room and enthusiastically announced, “I’ve got this incredible idea…” followed by something like, “Let’s go to Cinnamon Bay in St. Johns for Christmas.” Or “Why don’t we buy a motor home so we can all go to Mom’s speaking appointments this summer? Or “What about putting in a backyard swimming pool?” Or something as simple as impulsively stopping at a donut shop—something you didn’t do if you taught the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University—and asking, “Anyone want a donut?”

            Kevin’s face glowed with excitement as he pushed the sofa pillows aside and sat down. “First of all we’ve got to sell the family’s lakefront Cottage and Chalet on Norris Lake in Tennessee and with the money buy run-down properties here in Kauai. With Jeff and Kari’s skills and experience we can work together fixing them up—and Mom,” he said with extra excitement in his voice, “you can paint!” (I’d told the kids a couple years ago, that when we retired in Kauai I was going to paint—but I wasn’t thinking about houses,).

            He continued, “Angela and I will still teach our alternative home school program (see Ken-yen.com) for all our kids—plus others. When we sell the properties for a profit we’ll take our families to places like Fiji or Bali as part of their education. Then we’ll find another property, re-invest, and start again. And,” he laughed, “until we’ve renovated something for Kari and Jeff to stay in, we’ll all live together here.”

            I looked at him questioningly, “Six adults and seven kids?”

            “We’ll find the room.”

            I always envied families that lived and worked together. But as our kids married, moved to different states and began their diverse careers, I had come to the conclusion that for the Kuzma’s, it was impossible! Suddenly, as I listened to the concept that Kevin was outlining, it didn’t seem that impossible!    

            “We’re in,” I said as I looked over at Jan. Since his stroke in 1996, he has pretty much let me make major decisions. And at my age, I’m happy to pass the baton on to the next generation and just enjoy the ride. “Whee,” I thought, “What a ride this is going to be!”