New Jacket

The school buses rumbling by my house each week day remind me that something is different this year. I am no longer using the arrival or departure of buses to determine my work day, rather I am wearing the new jacket of retirement. I confess that my new jacket feels very strange and sometimes I feel like Ferris Bueller without an excuse. I certainly miss my friends at school but I am grateful I had a career and colleagues that I cherish.

My days have a different rhythm to them now. Instead of being driven by the clock, I am driven by opportunities as they unfold. Certainly there are the usual demands of life such as exercising (yuck), cleaning (super yuck) and life's paperwork (yuck on steroids). But, the sweet moments are easier to capture when one is not tethered to a job. This past week I was able to enjoy lunch with my sister, have coffee with a dear friend and celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday at a new Ethiopian restaurant (I'm a sucker for injera). Another fun event happened with my mother at her assisted living facility.

Recently, a small town in our state suffered a devastating tornado which did considerable damage to the school in the town. My mother's assisted living has a resident who was a former volunteer fireman from that town so the staff decided to host a fundraiser for the damaged school. The fireman had a collection of firemen's memorabilia set up for a display and a few local firemen brought a firetruck to the assisted living so residents could get a tour of the truck and ask the firemen questions. My mom was excited that we could attend this event together and on a week day, no less. She ran a comb through her fluffy white hair and we slowly made our way outdoors. The sun kissed us with pleasantness as mom's walker scraped across the parking lot toward the firetruck. A sweet fireman patiently showed us all the moving parts of the firetruck and I could see the love of learning ignite in my mom's eyes. After the truck tour, we made our way to the tables of memorabilia. The first thing she said was, "Oh, wouldn't a little boy just love this stuff!"  Neither of us knows a lot about firemen's artifacts but we enjoyed perusing the display tables. And, of course, all good events have food, too. We each selected a doughnut and settled into the chairs on the sidewalk. We enjoyed visiting with others at the event while we soaked up a little sun and finished our snack.

Soon enough, it was time to make our way back to mom's room. On the way in, I remarked how the event was a win-win. We got a little fresh air and sunshine and we were able to donate to a good cause. My mom looked at me and said, "And we you were here. That's another win."

Win-win-win.