The question that quietly follows us into our senior years.

Do you plan? I did, yes.

Do you drift? When things didn't go according to plan, I did.

Do you follow impulses? Do you set goals? I follow my impulses when it looks like a good way to meet my goals.

Or do you just let life unfold and adjust as you go? Life simply unfolds, and I'm always prepared to adjust if necessary.

What do you want your days on earth to say about who you are, or does it even matter? It doesn't matter. Aside from a small handful of people, nobody cares about my days on earth or who I am. Why should they? And the small handful of people who do care, only care as it relates to them and their time here, which is totally normal and acceptable.

I think only my children are a tangible clue to who I am. If people who meet them are very impressed by them for any number of reasons, they might think to themselves "Somebody raised that kid right."
 
When I was preparing to retire after 37 years with the state police, my supervisor came to me and asked if I would be interested in helping at the Academy. I said sure, but we need to have a discussion first. After we spoke, I took a few days and decided I would like to do it. I knew it was going to be a commitment and I prepared for it.

I no longer have the position, but I gave back 4 years to help our Cadets get off to a good start.
 
Not too long ago, my son observed, "You know, you are surprisingly busy for someone who doesn't have a job or go to school."
And it's true, my days are pretty full, but happily, with dog walks, exercises, yoga, meditation, relaxed cooking, hobbies and time with people I love.

I know how blessed I am in this and am very, very grateful for it.
 
When I was first retired 14 years ago, I was married and we did a lot of traveling. I have been on my own for the past five years and have went to Europe twice to see the remaining sights that I wanted to see. I’ve also traveled much of the United States.

My youngest son lives in Vietnam and would like me to visit, but the air quality is very bad and I have asthma so that won’t be possible. He does come home to visit me once a year.

I fill my time with part-time consulting, some volunteer work, friends, and walking my dogs. I noticed as I will turn 72 in a few months that I do not have the stamina that I had five years ago. That may be one reason that I’m not as interested in traveling as I was. Plus, I’ve gotten to find air travel really miserable for a variety of reasons.
 
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