Now when anything in my life takes a lot of thought and planning, I mentally conjure up my three legged stool. It works well and the old bench itself has been restored and sits here in my foyer - a reminder that it's on its second life and that's a lot of pondering!
When I retired in 2005 a friend made a comment that I really took to heart. "Be sure you are retiring to something rather than from something." Simple and easy. And I was. I was retiring to a life of gardening and grandchildren, state parks and fishing trips, deer season and dove hunting, cooking and outdoor BBQ, the good Florida life.
You know me and you know that the plan failed. In the end, I needed to retire alone, to garden only for cooking herbs, to buy my fresh fish off the truck at Lake Ella, enjoy venison from other sources, no grilling, no huge bags of potting soil, no freshly picked veggies; no acreage, no chickens, no little goat. Thank goodness I still got to have Tom and Jack. I wish every day that they could see the life I had envisioned for them.
Sam's words still lingered. A quick learner, I realized that he was essentially correct. More than ever. I adopted the motto, " I now work for results and not money," and became a mini-me working for my favorite causes.
For going on five years I've championed Lighthouse, the Dining in the Dark Dinner, the Board of Opticianry, the HCC Foundation and many other, smaller and less permanent projects. I'm so glad I did it, too. I think it's called channeling one's energy, using one's talents, You can survive better if you're not thinking only of yourself.
But, I was sick all summer. Bad reactions to medicines, Lupus scares, lots of testing and blood work, lowered immune system, dental implants that can and will get infected if I blink, colds that morph into laryngitis, sinusitis, bronchitis and try to stay forever. I cracked my ribs, coughing. How can you go to a manicure, a Church service, a meeting, a party, coughing? Cough, cough, cough.
Since my own bedroom is like a huge study, library, entertainment center, I usually sleep in my guestroom. One can get a very good night's rest! It's a small room but cheerful with only a radio for NPR and my Kindle. This is where I spent almost every day last week. I was trying to take such good care of the cold that it wouldn't become something worse. I failed.
So there I was; sleeping, having soup and saltines, coughing. I started thinking about my plans for the "new" retirement that I started developing last summer. Most of it was already in the works. So I conjured it up, for the billionth time, in my mind. It hasn't got too much to do with good works. It isn't volunteer based. I wouldn't call it an altruistic plan. It's actually mostly about friends and family, pets, church, reading and writing, and feeling good!
And that is how it was that yesterday I slipped out of the blue bed in the guest room and into a new world of total retirement. It only took one last email. Now I need to rest until I can get my voice back. Polish my smile! Buy a pair of jeans! I don't think I'm retiring "to" anything at all this time, Sam. At least it can't be labeled. But I know what I want it to look like.
