This past week my dad retired. As of Thursday he was done! What is great is that he is still healthy and strong. He did not have to retire early due to a health reason and for that we are so grateful. He has projects lined up and trips planned for this whole summer. What a great example he has always set to me by never being an idle person, always the first one up and always busy. In his working career he also served in a bishopric and has been the bishop twice. (That in itself can be a full time job!) We have used our family blog and each child has taken a day to write about memories of our dad working and our memories of him. It has been great to read what everyone has had to say.....alot of memories spread over alot of years. But this has gotten me thinking about my sweet mother.....My mom has always worked and had her own stash of money but rarely worked out of the home--a real blessing indeed. My mom over the years has always had the white shirt and dinner ready and never a harsh word or thought for that matter. She always put herself last. She has the incredible way to keep the menus fresh even after all the years. We joke about it but she can go out to eat, poke at a meal with her fork and say I can make this and she can! She can clean better than anyone and garden like she is half her age. Why do I say all this? .......because she can't retire from her job like my dad did. She can't be done! She has worked all the years my dad has and yet she can't retire! I have been thinking about this as I posted my comments to my dad and read the others posts. The advantage I see is that there is no time table anymore, no rushing out the door and if they want to eat only 2 meals a day they can! (They always threaten this!)
They are on their way to my house next week. They are driving in with my sister from Texas and her family and we are hanging out while my sweet niece attends EFY. We will see how relaxed a retired man is and we will eat only 2 times a day.....kidding!