Celebrating my first year of retirement

Several years ago I started to keep a countdown of days until my retirement. It seemed to take forever until I reached that target date. But I did. A whole year ago. It’s amazing how quickly that first year of retirement has passed.

Retirement is everything I hoped it would be. Freedom. Peace. Less pressure and stress. You get the idea.

A decade ago I thought I would have had trouble walking away from a job I liked. That changed several years ago, and I knew it was time to start thinking about the next chapter in my life. 

It has been a busy year, but one filled with things I want to do and often when I want to do them.

So here is some of how I’ve spent my first year of retirement.

At the top of the list was getting married. Now I have someone special to share every day again. There are no longer all of those lonely evenings. Loneliness is a terrible way to live. When my wife of 41 years died after a lengthy illness, I didn’t expect to find someone else to love and share the rest of my life. I was wrong. Love can do that.

We’ve spent a lot of time during the past year combining two houses into one. That has included many projects at the home we now share. In addition to moving furniture, I organized a large workshop in the garage, which has made it easier to do other things, such as adding shelves in the walk-in pantry, installing lazy Susans in the kitchen cupboards, replacing lights, putting new floors in the bathrooms, installing cabinets in the laundry room and cleaning out attics. We also spent several weeks working in the gardens.

There still is a list of things that we will be working on this year. She lovingly calls me her handyman.

This year hasn’t been all work. 

We've walked and biked. This winter we’ve spent a lot of time doing puzzles. We spend many evenings sitting in front of the fireplace watching the news, “Jeopardy” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” reruns. There have been numerous shopping trips. 

We also have done some traveling – to Italy and Greece and to visit my sister and brother-in-law in southern California. I’ve been to Michigan twice to visit my daughter’s family.

We’ve attended a few of my local grandsons’ sports games and have spent time with our parents. We’re fortunate to still have all four of our parents. They range in age from 88 to 91. As can be expected at that point, three of them have been dealing with health issues, but their ages give us hope that she and I may have many years to share.

I have gotten involved with several community organizations, but I don’t intend to allow them to overwhelm me or infringe on my new relationship. I’ve come to believe that relationships are strongest when you make each other your priority. We’re looking for things to do together, such as when we help to serve meals for seniors on Christmas Day.

After a break of several months, I also started writing again, mostly through this blog. The hardest part of leaving my job was losing touch with some of the thousands of people who read my column every week. As much as this has helped others, it has helped me just as much.

People have asked if I plan to write a book. I may. At least I’ve formed a couple of ideas, but I don’t want to see that turn into the pressure of my working days.

I even have become a cat person. Who could have known? Oliver sometimes even gets off of my chair so I can work at my desk.

Now that I’m an experienced retiree, I’ve collected a few thoughts and some advice for those looking to follow me into this incredible lifestyle:

■ Stay active. Take walks, Work in the yard. Don’t sit around the house all day.

■ Don’t put off things you want to do. Go places while you still are healthy.

■ Don’t be pressured by things you don’t want to do. A big part of the enjoyment of retirement is getting to pick and choose what you do most days.

■ Do things to keep your mind sharp. Work jigsaw puzzles and crosswords. Read books, magazines and newspapers. Watch Jeopardy.

■ Don’t look back with regret. Memories are good things, but don’t dwell on what could have been. That won’t change the past and will only cloud the future.

■ Don’t waste time worrying. It won’t add any time to your life.

■ If your hearing has declined, get a hearing aid. At this point in life it doesn’t matter if it makes you look old. You are.

■ Don’t stop learning. It’s never too late.

■ Don’t stop dreaming. Setting goals helps you to be excited about the future

■ Take time to watch the sunsets.