I skipped a whole bunch of years. But as you move closer to the present, my life mirrors the lives of many. Jobs, kids activities, vacations, family events, holidays, disappointments and challenges, hobbies, your first home, friends ... you know what all that looks like.
My retirement, though, is not what I thought it would be for a number of reasons.
We didn't anticipate medical surprises ... like my husband's decreasing vision. We didn't know that we would be caregivers for 3 elderly relatives. We didn't expect that being professionally successful as we were, we would find ourselves laid off from our jobs ... yes, we were both laid off around the same time in our late 50's, not the best time to get re-employed even in an up economy. This is not an exhaustive list of the unexpected ... but it is what I can share.
Life throws you curve balls, and you just do the best you can to catch them and move on.
Our lives have been blessed in so many ways. I hope I made that apparent in my brief blog posts of my past. To list all the positives would be more than this blog could hold.
I have enjoyed doing this romp through my history but I discovered a very disturbing fact ... I have way too many pictures that are in total disarray in the basement. To give you the scope ... I have the pictures we took (and there were tons), the pictures we inherited from my husband's grandmother, and his father, and his stepmother, and his mother, and let's not forget the pictures mom brought with her when she moved in with us. There are also a lot of historic family documents that need better care. The volume pictures and documents is breath-taking in its scope. And I am now the caregiver for that history.
So although I am done posting old pictures to the blog (for now), I am going to get serious about getting all that stuff in the basement organized and mounted.
It was one of my goals for my next 20 years and I have made very little progress.
Thanks for all the kinds comments regarding my pictures and stories. This was fun for me too. And it is important to look back at where you came from periodically, to take an account of what and who made you ... you, and reflect with gratitude on the many hands that helped you along the way.
I am grateful.
11 comments:
We enjoyed your trip down memory lane as well. Now, off to the art supply store for a few books with acid free paper. Off you go.
Looks like we're both having reorganizing dilemmas. Hopefully we can give each other support.
I SO know what you MEAN!
I don't mean to scare you, but be careful while going through all those photos and organizing them. If your house and life are like mine, while you're working with them, some other part of your house (and life?) will go into overdrive and multiply a mess for you to be overwhelmed by at a later date. ;-)
We are retired which has worked out nicely for us, but not what we had envisioned for our late 50's. A bigger surprise has been how busy we are in retirement. Even though the activities are own choosing at this point, there are still many days we set an alarm clock. I thought we were done with that darned thing!
I think dust and cobwebs are in that overdrive cycle at my house so I shout shut up my fingers and get busy.
It's been fun looking at your past with you in pictures. : )
Oh I have so much to catch up on as you've been so busy writing away! I've enjoyed the posts that I've read thus far and am sure that the others will be equally entertaining. This is a great reminder for us all to get organized! P.S. I have an award for you! Julie
Loved catching up with your past and so happy to be part of your present!
Thank you for taking along with you down memory lane. I enjoyed it.
I have enjoyed your old pictures and your stories of your past. Your kids are great! And I identify with you in having too many pictures. I have all of my parent's pictures, mostly in boxes, and I need to do something with them.
I've decided I need a job to get away from all my retirement activities!! It's exhausting... But, it's a much better kind of busy -- not having to answer to any boss (yes, entrepreneurs answer to their clients or they don't work!). My curve was my sister having to move in with me because there's no way her retirement would take care of living expenses -- at least, what she was used to and there's no way I would not bring her in with me. But, it's turned out to be quite fun, and great company. We sit side-by-side on our computers and nod to each other, on occasion, or bring the other a drink!
Make sure you scan all those pictures/documents you found too! thanks for leading us on a stroll down your memory lane. :) it was nice.
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