This week’s interviewees are a newly retired couple who are long time area residents and childhood friends of mine. She and I had identical green and white checked dresses in 3rd grade and I told her where babies came from. She hates it when I tell people that but I think it’s an endearing childhood memory. Although our lives were on different trajectories, we have never forgotten each other’s birthdays and I feel blessed to have such a close childhood girlfriend. I think of her kids and grandkids as surrogates and it was lovely to all spend Thanksgiving together several years ago.
So far, she and her husband love being retired. I call these early years of retirement the “honeymoon period,” at least they were for me; kind of like being a kid in a candy store with money to burn. They say they pretty much do what they want when they want although some things need to be scheduled. She is really happy to be away from the challenges of technology. My response to that my dear friend is: “you can run but you can’t hide from the information age.” She loves to read, sew, knit and craft although, I have yet to see the fruits of her labor with these ambitions. Maybe I should give her time to breathe and see what she’s up to a year from now. My plan was to sleep during my first year of retirement but my nature fought me on that plan.
Her husband spends time on house renovations and garage projects and likes to ride his motorcycle during the summer months. Oh, and he likes to feed the birds and draws quite the variety of species during the summer months; she says he spends a fortune on bird feed and fancy nuts for them. Although they didn’t mention it, they also do some gardening and canning together. He is knowledgeable when it comes to trees, shrubs and vines which I have benefitted from in my own gardening efforts. A friend and I joined them to make and can tomato soup a few years back. I seem to remember red streaks on the walls and/or ceiling afterwards which is probably why I haven’t been invited back for this late summer activity.
They like to play cards and work on jigsaw puzzles together which I think is charming; Paul and I would kill each other trying to fix a puzzle together. She also likes to help her mother and grandchildren, which she did before she retired, and can better relish now that her time is her own. Their advice to young people is to enjoy time off with family and retire when you can to enjoy your life. Finally, she wishes the world was more settled with less public disagreement. This couple has chosen to “lean in” to their already chosen life priorities in retirement and “how sweet it is!”