3 Year Retirement Update

Its been a little over three years since I announced my retirement. Its been a pretty surprising 3 years, and I’m not where I thought I would be. In many ways, I’m doing better than I thought I would.

I worried a bit about my social life. I wondered how I would keep up with my friends that I mostly saw during my days at work. Would I have anyone to hang out with? I do! I haven’t lost many of my old friends, though a few friendly co-workers have drifted away. I’ve made bunches of new friends though, through my new hobbies and volunteering. I have learned that I need to make a bit more of an effort to keep up with friends now, since I don’t bump into them anymore, but some of my new friends are especially interesting and worth the effort to keep up with. I really value hanging out with my girlfriends- a little girl talk (and usually a LOT of laughter) makes everything seem better. Lunch with the girls is cheaper than therapy too!

My health is much better. I don’t know if I’m in the best shape of my life- I certainly can’t run as far as I did when I was doing that regularly, but I am getting a ton of exercise every day. Yesterday I got 30,000 steps, and today I got 28,000. Its a rare day that I don’t get 12-15K. My body loves this- I feel good- really good, most of the time. I was not particularly athletic when I was a kid, and I laughed when someone called me that on the pickleball court last week, but maybe I am becoming athletic in the same way that I became proficient at math after my school years.

I sort of thought that I would end up with some kind of part time job related to my old job. I have absolutely no interest in that at this point, and don’t know that I ever will. Honestly, I haven’t been paying too much attention to our investments lately. I should probably check on that, since my paychecks will be ending soon and I have no intention of earning more money.

I absolutely adore volunteering. I had no idea that it could be so satisfying. There is this kid who is a patient at the physical therapy facility where I volunteer. When he started his therapy he could barely hold his head up, as all he’d done to that point is sit in his wheelchair. He didn’t have the arm strength to reach for an object above his head. Today he snatched a ring out of my hand and put it on a pole behind him, all while sitting up straight on the horse. Amazing. The facility has offered to hire me several times, but there are some children who cannot pay for therapy, and I feel like my free labor helps to pay for their treatment.

Last week, the same kid told us that he had found a dandelion and blown the seeds and made a wish. He couldn’t tell us what it was because then it wouldn’t come true. He gave us a hint though. He said it was one of the things he couldn’t do. The therapist guessed crawl, walk and run. He said it was the middle one. His wish is to walk. All of our eyes filled with tears. A teenage girl who works with us cleared her throat and said that she thought that was the best wish she’d ever heard. Working there is humbling too. I was afraid of the heartache of working here before I came, but I’m glad I did.

I believe that one person CAN make a difference, and my experience at the therapy barn and also the food pantry in our small town have proved that. The therapy facility treats children that haven’t been helped by other therapies, and will do it for free if the clients can’t pay. The food pantry I sometimes volunteer at was started by a woman at our church. (This is the funeral I talked about going to in my last post.) She was the wife of a doctor- one of the few doctors in our small town, and had 6 children. She had plenty to do at home, I’m sure, but knew about the poverty in town and decided to do something about it. She started collecting and distributing food, and recruited the ladies in our church to help. When it became too big for our church to manage, she had a meeting with the women’s clubs at the other churches in town and recruited them to help too. This pantry been handing out food and supplies and help with bills for more than 50 years now. I had no idea I’d love volunteering so much, but I love being able to help- even just a little.

I’m learning new hobbies and traveling some, and spending time with my children who are quickly becoming adults. And my grand retirement adventure- the Camino Santiago is coming together. I met with my dad’s cousin and his wife and they have already made reservations for September. A friend texted last week and asked if she could walk part of it with me. I’m going to be fitted for a backpack and purchase other equipment at the end of this month. My life feels much more fulfilling and exciting than it did while I was working. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!

Favorite retirement activity of the week: Last week it rained 5 inches overnight. That makes for a perfect day of weeding- the soil is loose and the roots come out easily, which means the weeds are less likely to return. I rarely got to take advantage of this when I was working, because I seldom had a free day after a big rain. Now that I’m retired, it’s easy to rearrange my schedule for events like this!