Retirement One Year Later

This month I reached my first year anniversary of retirement. This July I reached my second year anniversary of being a widow. To describe myself as a retried widow is definitely not something that would have ever crossed my mind, retired yes, widowed no. Yet here I am, where ever that is. Here are some of my thoughts on retirement one year later. How is retirement life?

My first answer would be it rocks! I can get up when I want and go to bed when I want. I can wear comfy clothes every day. I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want. There are no meetings, processes, deadlines and spread sheets to manage. The only pressure on me is what I put on myself and I'm finally getting used to being kind to me.

My second answer would be retirement stinks! I would say it sucks but I don't usually use that term so I'll say sometimes it stinks, at least for me anyway. Finding something to do can be harder than you think. I should rephrase that to finding something you want to do can be harder than you think. I have plenty to do but that doesn't mean I want to do it. Remember when you thought that if you had enough time you would clean out all those closets, drawers, cabinets, the garage and/or that shed out back? For some of you that might be the case but for me I'm not that disciplined yet. On top of that I've been in pain the entire year and am just now recovering from knee surgery so that's been my excuse. There I go with the pressure on myself again. Retirement can be lonely if you are single or widowed. My entire life has been filled with people including my husband, 6 children, and 17 grandchildren not to mention that I worked in ministry which equates to people, people, people. Most of those people are still a big part of my life and for that I'm very grateful but as it should be they all have busy full lives and are not part of my daily routine anymore. Days can be downright boring and lonely sometimes. I've learned a lot in this first year of retirement. Most of the fears I had in the beginning were completely unfounded especially about finances. I'm amazed at how little it takes for me to live on these days. I've always loved saving money and finding a bargain. With six children that's pretty much a way of life that is serving me well now. I've learned that I have a lot to learn about myself. Through the years my life has been about my family and others and to be honest I never gave much thought to what I liked or disliked or wanted. What a unique and challenging concept that is. I remember going to the store to buy groceries after my husband passed away and ended up leaving empty handed. I have always based our meals and stocked the pantry and fridge based on what my family liked to eat. I was almost panic stricken as I realized I didn't even know what I like to eat much less how to cook for one. It's been a year of exploring Netflix and other things that were here for my families entertainment. I learned to binge watch and enjoyed 10 seasons of a series I'd never even heard of.

I think most of all I would say that I feel like I'm just getting started in this whole retirement thing. My desire is that a year from now I can look back and say retirement rocks, period! With another knee surgery in the future I know there will a few more boring days but now I know how to binge watch and how to get free books from the library so I'll be ready.

I'm looking forward to sharing my adventure with you. Thank you for stopping by. 

READY OR NOT. Retirement here I come.

 There are many turns in our lifetime. Some are are slight curves, some are planned turns and occasionally there are those annoying detours. In December of 2015 my life took a turn. It was more like a roadblock that would lead me in an entirely different direction than I could ever have imagined. One minute I had an amazing life, the next started a chain of events that would end with life as I knew it being completely gone. Never did I dream that I would wake up on a September morning less than 2 years later wondering where am I and what happened to my life?

I had the most amazing life. My wonderful husband, Lawrence, and I were married 36 years. We had a great marriage, had raised 6 children, were blessed with 17 grandchildren, yes 17, and were enjoying our empty nest. Life was good. Lawrence had been diagnosed with a lung disease but we were assured by the doctors that he was doing great and it would be many years before it became serious enough to consider drastic treatments or a lung transplant. We both had good jobs we enjoyed, a great social life with many friends and were involved in a great church. After raising 6 children which took every dime we made we were just beginning to seriously start retirement planning. Late but better late than never, right? But then came a life changing turn of events that would lead to my husband's catastrophic lung failure, a bilateral lung transplant and just when it looked like he was going to make it cancer appeared and ravaged his body. He would only live 2 months.  

I remember sitting in my husband's hospital room once we knew without a miracle he would not make it and thinking to myself, I'm going to end up on the street. I was very calm and had no fear. You see I was not the breadwinner for our family, he was. I remember thinking to myself I am going to lose everything we have. It didn't really seem to matter all that much to me at that moment but it seemed like the reality of the situation. But God wasn't finished working miracles on my behalf. 

My husband passed away on July 6, 2016. During the next year I learned how to do "Life without Lawrence" as I wrote about often. Part of that life was living only on my income and to my surprise I did it quite well. I was amazed at how much lower my expenses were. I soon began to relax and tell myself  I'm going to make it after all. But then came another turn. One year later in July 2017 my position at the job where I had worked for 20 years was retired. Another turn but this time a complete rerouting as Siri would say. My husband had died with pretty much no retirement. I was retired with no retirement. Ready or not, retirement here I come. This blog is about my limitless retirement on a limited income. I believe I'm not the only one who wasn't quite ready for retirement or had to retire on less than they would have liked. However I believe we can have an amazing life no matter what the circumstances. At least I'm going to try. I invite you to share in my journey. Lets see where it leads!