On the next to the last day, December 30th, of the last year of this decade, 2019, the thoughts of newly arriving change are finally taking hold of my mind. It has occurred to me this morning that I am going to have to retrain my pen to write “2020” when I sign my checks. And as that thought sunk in, my mind flashed back to 2009, and I realized that ten years is really a big chunk when you are already on the senior end of your life.
In 2009 we were still living on our farm, growing great fruit, and going to the Farmers Market three days a week. Life was extremely busy, we were filled with great purpose, and time flew by. We didn’t have as many great grandchildren yet, and we were yet to feel the sorrow of losing our son. But time has a way of changing things whether we are prepared for it or not. Eventually we had to pick ourselves up, look forward instead of back, and then the changes began to take place. The main part of the farm was sold to a local farmer, we had a big farm equipment sale, and we began to adjust to retirement.
Retirement is a big word when you have spent your whole life with the thoughts of pleasing people with your product, beautiful, healthy fruit. It took several years before we began to feel that it was time for us to change our way of life, at least in the wintertime. The first year we traveled to Florida, rented a mobile home and began to make new friends. By the second one we acquired our own home, and Bob started planting us some orange and tangerine trees.
But in the summers we still returned home to Michigan and our farm. Life kept on moving at its own pace and we had to adjust to it. Time has now moved on and the decade is about to come to a close.
We are still here and life is still good. Our family has sometimes become smaller, and we have grieved, but then new members have arrived and we welcome them. This morning although I have looked back, I have also begun to look forward and wonder what will happen next. One thing that I know for sure is that nothing will stay the same for long. One of the best things for me is that I have been able to express my feelings by writing and I hope that will continue for another decade.
In the meantime we will continue rising every morning, going for walks in the park, and practicing how to write “2020”. I will let “2030” wait for a later day. There will be many changes to adjust to but we are strong and we will enjoy watching them.