Yesterday, my dear husband worked his last day. He is officially retired and I couldn't be more excited.
His days of drawing a real paycheck started when he was 13, helping his father in his job as a delivery driver. He worked full time during his high school years, working second shift in a woolen mill and often worked three jobs while in college. He certainly doesn't shy away from hard work, and the bigger the bank balance the happier he is.
He spent much of his adulthood working in sales, then he started his own office equipment business, which eventually was bought from a Fortune 500 company. He then steered his career towards economic development for one of Maine's poorest counties, which he has done for the past 13 years. He found great personal satisfaction in that position and wasn't really sure he wanted to retire.
Last year, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and our little world went into a tailspin. He didn't want to give up his summer of golf, or his autumn of bird hunting, so he had a hormone shot and prostate removal surgery was set for November. We grew incredibly close as the months went by; the hormone shot had put him into man-o-pause. He had huge fluctuations in his mood and his body temperature (something I had already been through). We talked for hours, alternately laughing and crying and sharing our most personal thoughts. He really suffered and told me he wished he'd forgone the shot and had just had the surgery when he was diagnosed. He continued to suffer months after the surgery in November with mood swings and hot flashes; now he had a painful catheter (he said it felt like a garden hose) in his penis and couldn't sit up straight for very long. He had to wear a diaper as well, since urine leaked around the tube.
We discussed life in general and our dream since our first trip to Bermuda 25 years ago was to travel a great deal once we retired. I became disabled in 2004--thus I was already retired. He is Scottish and very frugal with money and it was because of his money management skills that we were able to reach our magic number before he turned 65. I asked him if he still wanted to travel and he was definite about his answer-YES! Then why would you keep working?
The cancer had scared us both and made us ask ourselves some hard questions. Honestly, I was ready to sell our home because if he were to die there was no way I could handle the maintenance, and frankly I didn't want to. What if he couldn't get back to "normal" and keep up with the maintenance? We agreed to put off the decision for a few months and see how things worked out.
He felt he needed to let his board of directors know that he would retire at the end of June, so they would have ample time to replace him. I was the only one who knew how much he struggled with his decision. The plain truth was that he truly loved his work, and the thought of not getting a regular paycheck twice a month scared him, and why wouldn't it? He'd been working for over 50 years!
He signed up for Social Security and had collected his first check. He is cancer-free! Our first trip is next month when we drive up to Cape Breton Island in the Canadian Maritimes for ten days. He is going on a fishing trip in Canada in September, bird hunting in October and November, and right after Christmas we head south with the rest of the snowbirds. We decided to keep our home for now.
2014 was a terrible year for us. There were several family crisis' that we got through with God's help. The cancer was just one of the year's many challenges.
It's July 1, 2015 and so far the year is going great. One of our three daughters is flying up from Miami in just a few days, and we are so excited to see her and her four children. She is staying at a huge home on Moosehead Lake and will celebrate her 40th birthday and marry her wonderful Scott. I will be performing the ceremony--now how cool is that? Another of our daughters, who has three beautiful daughters, discovered a few weeks that "surprise!" they are having another baby in January. This will be number 10 grandchild for us, and we will have plenty of time to spend with all of them.
I've always said that God loves me best; my blessed life proves it.
His days of drawing a real paycheck started when he was 13, helping his father in his job as a delivery driver. He worked full time during his high school years, working second shift in a woolen mill and often worked three jobs while in college. He certainly doesn't shy away from hard work, and the bigger the bank balance the happier he is.
He spent much of his adulthood working in sales, then he started his own office equipment business, which eventually was bought from a Fortune 500 company. He then steered his career towards economic development for one of Maine's poorest counties, which he has done for the past 13 years. He found great personal satisfaction in that position and wasn't really sure he wanted to retire.
Last year, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and our little world went into a tailspin. He didn't want to give up his summer of golf, or his autumn of bird hunting, so he had a hormone shot and prostate removal surgery was set for November. We grew incredibly close as the months went by; the hormone shot had put him into man-o-pause. He had huge fluctuations in his mood and his body temperature (something I had already been through). We talked for hours, alternately laughing and crying and sharing our most personal thoughts. He really suffered and told me he wished he'd forgone the shot and had just had the surgery when he was diagnosed. He continued to suffer months after the surgery in November with mood swings and hot flashes; now he had a painful catheter (he said it felt like a garden hose) in his penis and couldn't sit up straight for very long. He had to wear a diaper as well, since urine leaked around the tube.
We discussed life in general and our dream since our first trip to Bermuda 25 years ago was to travel a great deal once we retired. I became disabled in 2004--thus I was already retired. He is Scottish and very frugal with money and it was because of his money management skills that we were able to reach our magic number before he turned 65. I asked him if he still wanted to travel and he was definite about his answer-YES! Then why would you keep working?
The cancer had scared us both and made us ask ourselves some hard questions. Honestly, I was ready to sell our home because if he were to die there was no way I could handle the maintenance, and frankly I didn't want to. What if he couldn't get back to "normal" and keep up with the maintenance? We agreed to put off the decision for a few months and see how things worked out.
He felt he needed to let his board of directors know that he would retire at the end of June, so they would have ample time to replace him. I was the only one who knew how much he struggled with his decision. The plain truth was that he truly loved his work, and the thought of not getting a regular paycheck twice a month scared him, and why wouldn't it? He'd been working for over 50 years!
He signed up for Social Security and had collected his first check. He is cancer-free! Our first trip is next month when we drive up to Cape Breton Island in the Canadian Maritimes for ten days. He is going on a fishing trip in Canada in September, bird hunting in October and November, and right after Christmas we head south with the rest of the snowbirds. We decided to keep our home for now.
2014 was a terrible year for us. There were several family crisis' that we got through with God's help. The cancer was just one of the year's many challenges.
It's July 1, 2015 and so far the year is going great. One of our three daughters is flying up from Miami in just a few days, and we are so excited to see her and her four children. She is staying at a huge home on Moosehead Lake and will celebrate her 40th birthday and marry her wonderful Scott. I will be performing the ceremony--now how cool is that? Another of our daughters, who has three beautiful daughters, discovered a few weeks that "surprise!" they are having another baby in January. This will be number 10 grandchild for us, and we will have plenty of time to spend with all of them.
I've always said that God loves me best; my blessed life proves it.
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