At what age are we supposed to slow down, take an afternoon nap, use our walking canes, say no to invitations, and vegetate and actually in this lifetime- RETIRE?
I have been in the work force since I was fifteen years old. I was raised in a middle-class family who by no means lived well but lived comfortably with both parents working fulltime jobs. We never went without food or shelter or necessities, but we did lack for the frivolities of life. My mama and daddy had very little education and were blue collar people, not one thing wrong with that because if I was able to change my childhood, I would not change a thing. The notion and appreciation of working for what you got was ingrained into me, my brother and sister as we all entered the workforce at an early age and still work in some capacity even today. We are retiring age and draw that monthly stipend, but we have not slowed down much and no walking canes, yet.
I have friends who every time I run into them ask, “Are y’all retired yet?" Exactly what does that mean? My husband and I have been at that reticent age for several years now and I suppose my friends who are the same age, taking those afternoon naps just expect all of us to do the same. My husband has been a retail grocer for the past sixty years and although he has passed much of the retail work on to our sons, he keeps his hand on the helm. He also raises and takes care of several hundred head of cattle and always raises me a bountiful garden every year. God has been so good to us.
We have a beach house on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and so many ask me why we don’t retire down there and just “door dash” all the time. My husband refuses to door dash as he believes this is the lazy way of doing things. So, when we are down there, we have a house fourteen feet off the ground and climb steps to get to the door. Now I will tell you that we are both too old for that ascent.
And I will admit to you we have slowed down much from our busiest times as we live here on Sims Farms and we do like to sit on the back porch and take afternoon, and sometimes morning naps, we don’t go as much as we used to, but we are far from using our “sticks” and twiddling our thumbs. We get up early, we go to bed early but we get lots of chores done between the hours of 6:30 AM to 8 PM.
Meme’s Meatloaf – 1 pound of ground chuck, 1 envelope of Lipton onion soup mix, 1 egg, 1 cup of diced onion, ½ cup of diced bell pepper, ½ cup of diced celery, ¾ cup of tomato ketchup. Mix all together and place into a loaf pan and top with ¼ cup of ketchup and 2 T. brown sugar and spread on top. Bake 350* for 45 minutes.
