Marriage is a work in progress, and during your retirement years it brings on special challenges and delights. Health problems can lead to crankiness, and with physical activities dwindling down (including sexual intimacy), couples can find themselves wondering what’s next. I recently wrote a piece on memory problems and misplacing things and how extremely annoying that can be. On the bright side, children are long gone. You only have the personalities and issues of one other person to manage. That’s a major plus factor.
I never could understand couples who have taken on children in their old age. In all likelihood you may already have an adult, turned child, in the home. I speak of the husband half of the couple. If you don’t plan your husbands’ days for them, they will do nothing but whine for your attention! Sorry boys, it’s true. My husband tells me all the time he just wants my attention!
I suppose I may have been a bit hard on my husband. The surprising fact is, he has become quite supportive in picking up the slack for me. He does things around the house that I can’t or hate to do. In turn I do the things he doesn’t do well and/or hates to do. This act of compromising makes us happier in ways we never were when younger.
So I KNOW I have my work cut out for me, even after I quit my job! At least I will have time to spend with my husband and that should cut down the whine time. The problem will be how to shoo him away after I’ve had enough of him. After all, most of us have great plans for when we retire. With the extra time on your hands, the world is your oyster! Those bonus 8 hours you would have spent working (not to mention commute time), is the icing on your retirement cake. It would behoove you to organize these hours to make the most of them. I have not pinned down exactly what I’m going to do with the extra time. However, I have decided that my routine will be to get up in the morning and get dressed immediately. This way you are prepared for whatever it is you will do. It will also make it less likely that you will lounge around in your pajamas all day watching TV.
Just think of all the traveling possibilities, without worrying about scheduling it around your work hours. I suppose my point here is that retirement is the biggest plus during the golden years of marriage. Spending time with the grandchildren and great-grandchildren is something I know I have been looking forward to. As is, two of my grandchildren are grown, and the other two are nearly there as well. It makes me yearn for great-grandchildren, at a time when my grandchildren are really a bit too young to think about providing babies for grandma!
I’ve been hard pressed to find many negatives to living out the golden years with my mate. As I see it, potential health issues are really the only down-side. If you’re smart, you’ll take every precaution to minimize those possibilities. You may not be able to race dirt bikes, but you sure could ride non-motorized bikes alongside the beach!
Bring on those Golden Years. I’m champing at the bit!
