Well, Now that we're Here - Where Exactly ARE We?

 

This blog has had quite a rest since my previous post back in 2019. Not going to even attempt to "catch you up" dear readers... Instead, I will start with observations from this side of the the Working vs. Retirement fence.

We will mark our first 5 years of retirement in just a couple months on June 21st, and while it has largely been a very positive experience, there have been some surprises along the way. Here are a few discoveries we've made along the way; 

1.  Age is relative when it comes to friendships. We have made many new friends in our new community in our first years as retirees. Some are our age, but many are much older or much younger than we are. While that made logical sense in our working lives, it has been almost surprising in our new post-working life. We have found many vibrant new friends who are further into their "golden years" than we are. This has been fun and a good thing. It's only tricky when it comes to finding doctors. We generally want doctors who are younger than we are... a good deal younger if possible. 
2. Unlimited free time isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe this one is a hazard particularly for former teachers who spent most of their working lives with very little discretionary time during the work day. In my first year of retirement, I promised myself 6 months before I made any long term commitments. I was tired, SO very tired. I wanted to read, relax, and do just about nothing. That lasted a very short time. We moved just a few weeks after our official retirement because our home in Missouri sold so quickly (less than two weeks!). This meant all the fix-ups we wanted to do on our new residence in Michigan had to be done after we moved in instead of before we made our move. We got tons of stuff accomplished and added a full guest suite to our lower level. It kept us hopping from late June until mid October when we finally declared we were finished. THEN when we stopped, we were suddenly "bored". How could that be?? We decided it was a result of not knowing how to pace ourselves, but boredom does indeed lurk in the retirement world. The solution? Commitments! 
3. Doing for others with others makes for a great life. Enter the time of "joining" things again. Church, Lions Club, Community Theater, Library Trustees, Soccer Coaching, Set building, Choir, Book Club, Fellowship groups... we got busy again. Our kids tell us we're busier now than when we were working. I don't think it is quite true, but we have found ways to fill our days. When we recently celebrated our 50th we decided to (in Ed's words) "pitch a big one" and invited all our new friends to share an evening of food and dancing with us. We quickly discovered we had nearly 90 folks to invite and 86 of them were able to come! That felt amazingly good. We may have to do it again every five years or so. Partying with the new friends you've made is amaziing. Your friends seem to inter-connect in the most surprising ways. Our church, theater, Lions, and neighborhood pals are amazing and so fun to be around! And we loved having our kids get to meet them all!
4. You visit the doctor more than you ever imagined you would. The only negative thing so far in retirement is how much harder you have to work to remain healthy. I used to see a doctor only once or twice in an entire year. Now it has become a monthly or bimonthly visit to one of several medical folks who keep Ed and I doing well. You have primary care, eye care, dental care, skin care, cardiology care, oncology care (Ed, not me and doing fine), sleep doctor care, knee doctor, physical therapists, etc etc. All these folks are wonderful, and we appreciate them greatly. However, they fill up more space in our calendar than we ever expected they would! Getting older is not for the faint of heart in terms of health. 

That's where I will stop for today.... and hopefully, I will be back before 6 more years have scampered by.

Staude's out!

Life in Two Time Zones

Have been feeling a bit fragmented during the past month. We took a huge leap and we purchased a home in the town where we hope to eventually retire. All this thinking of slowing down and taking life a bit more easy is highly contagious. It makes me almost yearn for the next few years to pass quickly, which according to my sainted grandmother is "wishing your life away" and a huge no-no! So I am not going to focus on that in this post, but rather on what this choice represents for Ed and I.

Our new house is six hours away from where we presently live and work. It is to be a vacation/holiday house until the time comes when we can move there permanently. I am really excited in that this is the first time we have actually chosen where we want to live.

In our profession, Lutheran teaching, you go where you are "called" to be and that could take you anywhere. Often it is in a direction away from what is familiar or what is near family. So for 40 years of our married life we have done just that. We have lived 35 of those years where we presently are, but it wasn't a place we chose for ourselves. We came here because we were asked to come here, felt it was where we could serve, and we stayed. But we miss the North.

Michigan, with its lakes, beaches, and winter snow,  will always be "home" to us. One of our daughters and her family live in the town where we will be retiring. The new house is a little smaller than our current house. Going to be downsizing and are pretty excited to think about that. It's all a new and somewhat strange way to be thinking about the future while still fully functioning in our current roles and employment.

The new house is in a different time zone both literally and metaphorically speaking. Where we presently live is our life full of schedules, demands, and commitments. Where we will live in the future is a wide open and rather unstructured lifestyle with the freedom to do as we please and to enjoy times with our extended family. I am so grateful that we are at a point where we can do this. It feels like we have "plans" and some direction for our coming years. God-willing there will be many happy times spent in our new home even as we wait to get to live there permanently. One week from today we sign the papers and the adventure of "two time zones" officially begins! Praying that it will be blessed in many new and exciting ways as we transition into it!