“Two Things She Says to Me”

1. “I know I’ll never go hungry as long as I’m married to you.”   She laughs and I take it as a compliment to my work ethic. I’ve either had a job of some kind or could find one for most of my life. I just responded to someone that my first seven jobs were: pin setter in a bowling alley; berry picker; door to door salesman (selling Renuzit spot remover); railroad laborer (working on the tracks); lifeguard; construction worker; and bus driver.

You could add a few more that include being a grease monkey at a car dealer on Saturdays; putting Christmas decorations together for a small city; and working on farms feeding animals, making hay and putting it up in a barn, spreading manure and driving tractors and trucks. Funny thing is that my 50-year career was primarily in education following four years at a university and seven years of graduate school.

I enjoy driving buses and limousines, trucks and cars of all kinds, even earned a little cash doing that occasionally in the past few years. I’ve met people from all over the world who have interesting stories to share and received a referral for a short-term project from a couple of them. I like following the maxim of doing what you can with what you have where you are, and there will always be meaningful work for me as long as I am able.

2. “What’s to become of us?” She laughs again. I don’t remember when she first said it, probably when I quit working full-time professionally and two years ago when we moved. If you need a label, I would be “semi-retired.” I’ve written a couple of books, am currently working on another one and we manage to travel a fair amount. You might call it an active retirement, blessed with good health and time to enjoy these later years without the encumbrances of possessions, properties and raising children (and chickens).

We sold our big house and acreage up north on the river, down-sized and transitioned into a much smaller, less expensive house. We’re free to lock the door and leave anytime, which we do quite frequently. Our motorhome is parked about 300 yards away and it doesn’t take long to get ready, pack up and go. It’s our 6^th RV in the past 20 years and we think we finally have the right size for our itineraries.

She does Facebook, I don’t. I do Twitter and she doesn’t. We both have enough technical skills and resources for our needs and interests. My computer is 5 years old. She thinks I need a new one and I don’t.   She has a new iPhone 6S, mine is a 6 and we both have iPads, neither the newest version. We read a lot, watch movies, worry about our political and social culture and share a life that is rich in many ways. We have a large extended family of seven children and 13.7 grandchildren. Don’t worry about what’s to become of us, I tell her. We have a very full and good life, at least for now. So we shall make the most of it however we can.