Dear _______________,
Thank you so much for your generous gift. It is comforting to know that in a time of need, neighbors, friends and strangers will be there for you. I am writing to you today because this is not our time of need and we cannot accept your gift. Please let me explain.
Almost two years ago, George and I were at a crossroads. I had a new job opportunity in the area. Unfortunately, the job requires me to work evenings. I knew with both of us working “regular jobs,” we would rarely get to see each other. At the same time, George was working as a teacher by day and illustrating by night. Together we made the decision that George should quit his teaching job to pursue his art full-time. In order to get George’s business off the ground, we knew that we would have to make some sacrifices. I make a decent wage at my job, but we knew that it would be difficult to pay rent or buy a house and establish a small business at the same time. Therefore, we decided to live a simpler, smaller life. It is the best decision we have ever made. I know it may look strange to others, but our lifestyle was and is our choice. We consider ourselves very lucky. Neither George nor I have ever known hunger and this lifestyle has given us the ability to save money to pursue our dreams.
I cannot thank you enough for your concern and your gift. Knowing that people care about us is a gift in and of itself.
Thank you,
Melanie and George
Matthew 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If, then, your eye is simple, your whole body will be bright.”
Have anyone ever thought you were in need due to your lifestyle choices? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
love,
melanie
This was very touching…both on your part and theirs. 🙂
Robin, thanks so much. I was touched– it was such a sweet gesture.
Not to the point of Giving us money, but my oldest sister commiserates me because I discuss spending money for a new comforter with my boyfriend instead of just buying it, and the husband of the other sister is worried about us. He thinks we are poor because we live in a small apartment and have a shower cabin in the kitchen. I tried explaining that we just live differently. My boyfriend is self employed too, business is going pretty well, we are saving up for a house too..
I totally understand that. I think some people worry about us too–that’s hard. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, but we have to do what is right for us.
These people worring of you are lovely! In a similar way, I didn’t receive cash but a job offer. At the beginning of our adventure, 12 years ago, we left Milan to live a simple life in the country and we both had a job. My love is a programmer and I’m a web content manager and writer. You can understand that for us the choice of working from home is simple. We’re both self-employed and we love simple life, so we enjoy a lot of good qualitative time staying together, reading, growing a herb garden and a garden, traveling, napping (!) and making sports.
But for many people we were two lazy unemployed guys wasting their time at home. One day one of our relatives’ friend gave me a phone number and told that this new company was looking for people “like you”. I thought it was a publishing company… imagine my frustration when I went to the interview carrying my portfolio and they offered a job as Kirby vacuum cleaner door-to-door seller!
Today we’re living in the woods of Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, in a little stone house almost self-sufficient. We’re still working from home. Our neighbors think we’re a strange eclectic couple but respect our choice. Our relatives still think we’re poor and, above all, we’re poor because we’re lazy 😀
Oh my, that is too funny! Your lifestyle sounds amazing. I don’t think you are lazy, I admire you! It sounds like a beautiful life.
Actually, Grazia, you describe my dream life. I don’t live so far away from you (svizzera) and I would love to live somewhere semi-secluded, work from home (I want to have a B&B one day) and have some (more) animals.
My other half is a landscape architect, so he still would need to work on building site, but we visualize it working in five to ten years, whenever we are ready to stay somewhere for long.
Enjoy your life..WE know how right you got it all!!
(Not implying someone is doing it wrong)