Building a House at 78

The first thing I did after being diagnosed with cancer was to take the blueprints I had drawn myself to a home builder. Although the cancer was cured through endoscopic treatment, at 77, I realized for the first time that life is finite. I had always thought that while death would eventually come, it wasn't now—it was still far off.

Until I sold my company and retired from management at 67, I only thought about money and could only do what I wanted within limited constraints.

It is now. It has to be now. I want to do what I like. I want to do everything I want to do. I want to build a house that I am happy with.

Actually, this is the fourth time I have built a house.

The first time I built one was when I was 33. It was a combined office and home, and since I didn't have much money, I didn't build it with total freedom.

The second time was at 58. I had moved the company elsewhere, but it was still used as a company warehouse, and I had to install an elevator for my mother's care and build it on the adjacent lot, so
it still wasn't the ideal home I was looking for.

The third time, at 70, I built a vacation home near the sea. Unless it was two stories, you couldn't see the ocean, and as the pine trees in the windbreak forest grew larger, the view became even more obscured. I enjoyed it as a vacation home for only five years.

Two years ago, I moved to a condo overlooking the sea, and I fell into a state of depression until I got used to life there. It was my first time living in a condo, and perhaps it takes longer to adjust to a new environment as you get older; I was already thinking about moving again from the start and had drawn up plans for a new house.

Although my depression has healed, what I drew at that time is the foundation for this, my fourth house-building project.

I will be 78 in a few days. Will the house be finished when I am 79, or 80?

Building a house requires energy. There is no guarantee that I will remain healthy forever. It's not just about my physical body, but whether my vitality and spirit will hold out, and how long I will be able to live in the new house.

This time, it will be the last. This final house will become the energy for me to keep living.