Retiring is a hard decision

Sunday night football will not be the same this year.  I don’t know how long it will take me to get used to not hearing John Madden.  Actually it is his way of drawing circles, lines and any other weird looking thing to show what a specific play meant and how it worked or didn’t work.

Madden was 73 and a unique individual.  The one thing I admired about him was how he did it his way.   Surprisingly according to Wikipedia he did not start traveling by his well known bus until 1987.  I say surprisingly because I thought he always traveled that way.  I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must have been to say no more.  Of course we will not know for sure until he has retired for another several years. 

It is interesting how many celebrities of various types retire and then in a couple of years you see them again.  I love singers who do this, Cher comes to mind, she retired and keeps coming back for one more final tour again, and again, and again.

Of course there are probably millions of people who can’t wait to retire.  If I remember correctly, I say it this way so my sister won’t call me up and say that I had it wrong, my dad couldn’t retire soon enough.  As soon as retirement was made available he said good-bye to years at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan.  I never heard of him regretting that he retired when he did.

My brother retired early and seems to be enjoying it more each year.  He and his wife live in a beautiful flower garden utopia.  They spend the winter months planning and the summer months working and enjoying it. Unfortunately, I have not seen it in many years.  The pictures they have sent makes me appreciate how much they enjoy everything they do, and how it shows.  They live in the city and have a backyard that allows them to be in the country just by sitting down and enjoying what they have created.

I am one of those people that will probably never completely retire.  Even now as I move on from the Littleton Observer my plans take me into the internet world and another startup project.  I learned in 1997 that sitting home and just relaxing was not for me. It was then that we moved away from the Lake and headed north.  Within months of moving I was involved with starting up a camping magazine. 

I decided to relax again when we moved further north to Delaware.  It only took a few months and I tried to start up an internet company designed to provide connection between local business and area residents.  I was definitely ahead of my time, because it never got off the ground.  

Then my health forced me to take time off from everything.  I learned one thing during that time, even though I have many hobbies including reading, I don’t feel fulfilled unless I am researching, writing, learning and making some money.

So I will try it one more time.  You’ll see me around but if all goes as planned you’ll see less and less of me and hopefully I’ll keep it off.  You’ll be able to keep track of how I’m doing on my blog at athoughtortwo.com.