First Turning Sixty As The New Beginning, Now Twelve Years Later

My 7th birthday

In seven days I'll be turning seventy-two.  This has been a monumental year and not all events were positive either, who knew or even imagined how 2020 would play out?  It has been a thinking year, my brain has grown at least two inches.  I say this because someone told me that when my thinking causes a headache it means my brain is growing.

In 2008 when I turned sixty, the first shock I dealt with was to accept that I don't have as many years ahead that I had in the past. In one day, being 59 and waking up the next day 60, I went from not even thinking about my foreseeable future to maybe fifteen or twenty years left. Retiring hasn't been what I expected. Before making my decision, I talked with retired people, my mom especially, and their suggestion was don't retire.  It gets boring pretty quick.  Yet, one morning in March 2016, I woke up and realized I was tired. I'm still nervous about the money, but God said "do not be anxious for He will take care of us", so I'm claiming that scripture. 

I enjoyed my work, I was the Secretary/Treasurer as well as the Accounting and Office Manager for the company, a plumbing supply house.  Of course, it helped to know my boss's daughter was hired to learn my job.  She expressed to me once that her working at the office during the summers with me is why she went to college and earned an Accounting degree. She will be a good accountant as she likes detail work as much as I do. She'll be good at the job.

Once I retired, my daughter wanted me to sell my house and come live with her. I would have liked that, except she lived in Oklahoma a long way from Alabama. My mother was still alive at the time and I felt that I needed to stay and help my brother take care of her. It was a good thing too as she had a mini stroke in 2016 and needed someone around 24/7. She moved in with me; at the time I didn't understand her delaying giving up her apartment. She died on September 10, 2017, at which point I decided to move to Oklahoma. It was traumatic giving up my home of fifteen years and going through everything I'd accumulated through my adult life, deciding what to sell, give away or just throw away. It was at that point, I understood why Mom delayed doing the same thing when she moved in with me. She married at sixteen and had accumulated sixty eight years of material goods as well as giving up her independence. In hindsight, the passing time seems like the blink of an eye, yet living it seemed like I would live forever.

As I look outside the sun is brightly shining here today, I have Baybay my cat laying on my arm while I type.  I'll be talking with my daughter soon; and I have wonderful memories, so all in all it's a great day. 

Shelby and BayBay

Sweetie Pie and BayBay