Looking forward to much better days
- col-teri-stein
- August 27, 2020
- 969
I’m getting a little sick of how things are going this year. First, my day job was eliminated, so my best option was early retirement.
I had been looking forward to retirement ever since the day I walked into my first job at the age of 17. “It’s going to be a long time to retirement,” I thought to myself in 1975 as I rounded the coolers full of dairy products and freezers of ice cream on my way to work.
Then 2020 happened, and when it’s not your idea to retire, it wasn’t nearly as fun as I had envisioned. Even though, I was looking forward to being free to do fun day trips and maybe even a short vacation out of town.
There is a bright side: Early retirement at the same time a pandemic hits is the best possible scenario and a blessing not to have to endure the work struggles so many others have had.
Still, as fun retired activities go, we have only been out to eat in a restaurant one time since March, and that was last week. Even then we were a little antsy about it. We did take one day trip to a fun Lake Erie location to get … groceries! There are a lot of favorite foods you can’t get in our area. Joe and I stopped at the wonderful Jolly Roger Seafood restaurant in Port Clinton for take-out and then went to a park to eat.
On the way home, we realized we hadn’t planned for a safe stop to eat supper, and Mr. Clean Car Fanatic didn’t want us to eat in our vehicle. It was a late supper at home that night.
There is one thing I learned this year: There are myths about retirement you don’t know until you actually retire. All these years I was looking forward to having endless days and weeks of time to get done everything I’d been neglecting over the years. I can now say this is false.
This summer has flown by faster than ever, even without fun festivals to go to and no big summer vacations to take.
I realized the entire time I was working for more than 40 years, I was sleep deprived. Now that my life doesn’t revolve around an alarm clock, it’s great. I’m getting at least eight hours of sleep each night.
When you’re sleeping more and life is less stressed and preplanned, it doesn’t leave you as much time as when you got up early, went to work, and then tried to get shopping, cooking, laundry, errands and more done in the evening. Sleep was the first thing to go. It’s better to get more sleep, and I have more time for exercise.
But back to the pandemic. This summer I felt things got a little less strained pandemic wise. Everyone was able to get outside and be active. Visiting friends outdoors happened with social distancing and with little worry. Now that fall is coming and the prospect of colder weather drawing everyone indoors, the reality of flu season with the pandemic still ongoing is scary.
When the pandemic first started, I didn’t know anyone who had the virus, except, of course, actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, and, surprise, I don’t know them personally.
As this summer went on, we found out about more people we knew personally whose lives were being affected by the virus. Some endured quarantine, worried about infecting their families and were relieved to still be healthy at the end of it. Some had the virus, worried about infecting their families and recovered. Two people died.
Personally, with a family member residing in a nursing home, we are thankful to the staff for their efforts to keep the disease away. It just doesn’t make it any easier, though. We can’t visit much in-person. We have only had one in-person visit since March. It’s extremely hard on everyone.
Until there is an end to this seemly endless pandemic, I will wear my mask everywhere I go in public; there is too much at stake not to. I want us all to be healthy and alive when the better days we know are coming arrive.