Sailing away from the safe harbor

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 
          – Mark Twain

The two of us driving in our newest adventure-- a 1950 Studebaker Champion convertible we've named Ruby!

     Lanny and I, to our delight, are entering a very busy fall season. We have made many plans, been included in the plans of others, and have found ourselves having so much on our calendar we are turning down some social invitations... this is quite unusual for us!   We have two trips planned-- one to spend time with my son Matt and his family who have generously offered to share some of their own vacation with us. The other trip is a long-anticipated trip to Italy!  In between these vacations, we have car shows, college reunions, and we are helping my mother move from her house into a much smaller apartment.

     It is helping my mother pack up her stuff and move that has prompted my reflection on how busy we are. My mother is 88, living in a house within a retirement community. She has some chronic health issues that make the move to a smaller apartment a wise decision. However, leaving that house means she is leaving the last place she shared with my father, who passed away 7 years ago. We have been helping her sort through a lifetime of "stuff", including furniture, picture albums, family heirlooms of one sort or another. Sorting through all that stuff has led to some conversations with her where she reminisces about the life she and my father shared.  And I am struck with how much they explored, dreamed and discovered together. Enough that now, as her age makes exploration difficult, she has many happy memories to look back on. She doesn't miss going out on adventures because she has a lifetime of them to remember and savor.

     That is a strong lesson to Lanny and I, new to retirement. We have both agreed that we need to make memories now so that when we are too old or infirm to go out on adventures we will have plenty of memories to look back on. We both are feeling the effects of aging slowly creep in-- our bones creak and ache, and our hearing is gradually rendering communication difficult. We forget stupid stuff, like where we put something. Our energy level is not that of our youth. BUT we have free time now to explore, dream and discover... and we intend to do it.

     I can't wait for each new adventure, some planned, some impromptu. Our upcoming trips will hold many surprises and adventures, but so does every new day if we start it with an open heart and curious mind!