I want to thank everyone so much for the great comments about downsizing and moving to a smaller home after retirement. I am sure I will revisit this topic sometime in the future. Stay tuned.
Since I just started this blog recently, I decided I should tell you a bit more about me and my life.
I am 63 years young. I have been married to my best friend for 41 years. He is the one with the guitar...a keeper, huh?!
...and he is Dad to granddaughter #3 who is 2 1/2.
My DIL works fulltime during the day and my son works nights. We take care of the 2 1/2 year old all day Mon. thru Fri. so Daddy can get some sleep. She definitely keeps us on our toes.
My daughter is 33 and she is Mom to granddaughter #2 who is 5 (6 in June), our little soccer star.
We helped care for this little chick alot before she started school too.
We live in West Michigan about a mile from the Lake Michigan shore. It is a beautiful area and we spend lots of time at the beach during the summer.
The other member of my family is a black cat named Salem that my son brought home about 12 or 13 years ago. He was about 1 year old and had been hanging around a pizza place, scrounging. He was very thin, had worms and fleas. I am a sucker for a sob story and got him cleaned up and took him to the vet. Who knew, we had just acquired "the best cat in the world"! He is very laid back and will let the girls maul him and dress him up. He has had no desire to leave the house since the day he walked in.
I have lived in West Mich. all my life. I grew up in a small town about 30 miles from where I currently live. I have 1 brother who is 11 years older than me, so I'm really mostly an only child. He left for college when I was 7 and I only have some vague memories of him as a teenager. My parents were part of large families and I do have a large extended family. We had lots of big family events, and I grew up with many cousins close to my age. We all went to the same church and school. I like to travel and see how other people live, but my roots go deep here. West Mich. is my home.
I am a registered nurse and I spent the last 19 years of my career working at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). It is a large family practic clinic and a little bit Community Health Dept rolled into one, serving mostly Medicaid, Medicare, and uninsured patients. We provided lots of services that you wouldn't find in a private office. We provided care to anyone and everyone, regardless of ability to pay. We really saw some sad, sad, stories. I spent much of my time providing education to patients and case management services. It was stressful, challenging, and rewarding. It was more than a job for me, it was more like a mission. I know that I touched lives there and made a difference.
At age 61 I was ready to retire; the stress was taking its toll. I was diagnosed with paroxsysmal atrial fibrillation about 7 years ago (age 56) and stress is my enemy, it can trigger an episode. Atrial fib is a cardiac arrythmia that isn't considered life threatening, thankfully. It is a nuisance to live with though. I am fortunate to have it well-controlled by medication and have not had a episode since I retired 2 years ago.
So...Here I am on this retirement journey and its so nice to be meeting some new friends along the way.
Hope you have a wonderful Sunday.
Til next time
Peace
