Bold Moves Are the Best Moves

Our great aunt was like a third grandma to my siblings and me when we were young. “Aunt Marrietta” lived in Wichita, which was two and a half hours away and “the big city” to us. We looked forward to our vacations when we’d visit her. We’d stay in her one-bedroom apartment, go shopping at Town East, ride the Whacky Shack at “Joyland,” or visit the zoo. Occasionally we’d stay at the Howard Johnson Motel, and she’d meet us to swim indoors.

Aunt Marrietta was the epitome of a strong, independent woman in the 1970s. She was single, living in a rough neighborhood, and worked for the IRS. It was apparent to us, even as young kids, that she didn’t need any help from a man. She was an amazing bowler who loved to dance, smoke cigarettes, and spoil her many nieces and nephews and their children.

When I was about ten years old, I remember much discussion about her upcoming retirement. She’d worked so hard for the government for many years to finally reach this monumental date that happened to coincide with her turning 62 years old. All I understood about retirement at that age was that she couldn’t wait for it, and we couldn’t wait to see much more of her.

Just a few weeks after her retirement, while visiting one of her nieces in FL, she passed away of a heart attack. My grandma happened to be staying with us that weekend while our parents were away. I still remember the moment when my grandma got that phone call. The grimace on her face and shrill of her voice are imprinted in my memory forever. How could life be so unfair?

I’ve been getting lots of questions lately about my own retirement. People believe I’m too young, or I am going to get bored. I think many of them are misled about my age because my son is a teenager, and I can also attest that I am far from bored. At one time, I was Aunt Marrietta (minus the cigarettes and mad bowling skills.) While I had plenty of fun, work was my priority. Then I was blessed with a family of my own in my 40s.

We’ve all seen those, “Life is too short to wait . . .” memes. When we went to Germany last year, I soaked in every minute of the 1-mile hike straight up to Neuschwanstein Castle. I couldn’t help but think how lucky we were that we were all physically capable of the strenuous but breathtaking walk verses in our late 60s or 70s when our current aches and pains could multiply.

For now, I’m just enjoying the simple life while using my time to volunteer and cut back on unnecessary spending (more on that in future blog posts.) Tomorrow, I get to attend my son’s first 8^th grade football game in the middle of the day – no last-minute meeting changes or checking my phone for what I used to believe were important emails that couldn’t wait. I’m just going to enjoy it all because life is too short.