Activities: A day in the life

October is my favorite time in Florida. The weather has been a perfect mix of sun and nice temperatures. Wayne wore his Obama shirt to the square last night and a couple of girls from Seattle shook his hand and told him he was brave. They were visiting their parents in the Villages and counting the days (4 years) until they can retire here. Been there! It’ll go fast.

I retired October 13, 2006. I never made it in for my last day of work. We wound up stranded in a brutal ice storm that knocked out power for 5 days. We had just purchased a 38 ft Motor home and made the best of the situation by living in the camper. I wasn’t supposed to go back to Florida until November, but as soon as the power went back on I booked a flight and said good-by to winter forever! The guys were working on a congressional campaign and came down in the camper in November.

We settled in to our new life in the Villages. Everyone found a niche: Beth liked dance, Joe liked spinning, Wayne and Rich liked line dancing (that’s a joke), and I found water aerobics and yoga. The guys golfed every day and in the evenings we went to the square, played scrabble or Texas Holdem’. We watched our Bill’s games at Gringo’s, and found the WNY club. We went to craft shows, art festivals, St Patrick Day, Dingus Day and Mardi Gras celebrations. Just about any excuse broke out into a party, celebrated with a “u sucker” cake.

We had a field trip or activity just about every month. We took the motor home (and our new motor scooters) to visit my Aunt & Uncle in the Keys, saw a NASCAR race in Daytona, went to a Sabers hockey game, took a trip to the Hard Rock Casino, and saw a Baseball game in Tampa.

My youngest, Briana and her boyfriend Anthony had moved to Florida and she was working for the Tampa Devil Rays. She got us tickets and we went to visit her at Ruby Tuesdays where she also worked before the game. She and I had been working through some lifestyle issues, and I was hopeful that she was healthy happy and safe. I think the hardest part about being a parent is knowing when to let go, and when to interfere.

Molly bought a cute house around the corner on her next trip down. She had already sold her house up north and planned to move down full time in the spring. Elaine found one bathroom was a challenge with the boys and bought a larger home a few houses down and Rich bought her house right next door. It seemed that one of us had visitors every week over the winter and we kept busy showing off the Villages and entertaining.

God bless the UAW for providing us the opportunity to retire with dignity and enjoy this lifestyle!