You Know You Are Old When

[newbury]

It worked… he went to the shop every morning doing his restorations and every evening just before 5 she would go to the back deck and say Father, supper in 19 minutes… wrap it up.

Yup.
28 years you can get set in your ways. And it's often not worth trying to change the other person.
Just occasionally mention there is an easier way to do it.

 

[ultrarunner]

The potential for two strong independent spouses to go through a retirement adjustment is certainly possible.

After the shop was finished they lived happily ever after but it was always funny hearing both talk about that first year...

I think a Navy wife moving around the world has to be self sufficient and a Navy Commander isn't use to having his actions questioned...

Lots of life lessons for those interested...

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

My wife was an employee so we retired a bit over 10 years now. First day was so weird, sitting on front porch thinking I should be at work!
It's been great...cars, horses, woodworking, garden, projects & travel a bit.

 

[ultrarunner]

Maybe you know you are getting older when the nest is empty?

My brother and his wife are always on the go with the 3 kids away in college… two have athletic scholarships and they like to pop in at the competitions plus traveling.

Sometimes being empty nesters brings too much together time… seen that happen.

 

[MossRoad]

The potential for two strong independent spouses to go through a retirement adjustment is certainly possible.

After the shop was finished they lived happily ever after but it was always funny hearing both talk about that first year...

I think a Navy wife moving around the world has to be self sufficient and a Navy Commander isn't use to having his actions questioned...

Lots of life lessons for those interested...

One of my mentors in life was retired from the Navy. He met his wife while in the Navy. She was Navy, too. Once in a great while, she'd mention that while he outranked her in the service, she had higher security clearance. They'd both laugh. I miss them.

 

[MossRoad]

Maybe you know you are getting older when the nest is empty?

My brother and his wife are always on the go with the 3 kids away in college… two have athletic scholarships and they like to pop in at the competitions plus traveling.

Sometimes being empty nesters brings too much together time… seen that happen.

My wife has her interests and I have mine. And we have a couple in common. We both get along with each other's friends, so that's a big plus. Both of us are still working. And we both wonder what it's going to be like when we both retire.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm watching my mother and stepfather (80 and 87) look at retirement homes, and all I can think is, "what would I do all day, in these places?". Going from a house with detached shop, where there are always more projects than time, to keep one busy. Not that I love working on projects all day everyday, but it was gets me out of bed and moving each morning, and keeps me busy on most days off.

 

[ultrarunner]

My wife has her interests and I have mine. And we have a couple in common. We both get along with each other's friends, so that's a big plus. Both of us are still working. And we both wonder what it's going to be like when we both retire.

I think a lot of couples go through that... especially with decades on the job in well defined rolls...

One of my friends decided to keep working... he said he had not planned on working and had the means to fully retire but found their relationship suffered with too much together time...

For others it's their ticket to explore the world together, make new friends and the culmination of years of work and planning.

 

[Oaktree]

My wife has her interests and I have mine. And we have a couple in common. We both get along with each other's friends, so that's a big plus. Both of us are still working. And we both wonder what it's going to be like when we both retire.

Obviously, every situation is different but even though both of us are "retired", we both still have p/t jobs, if for no reason other than to get out of the house and to feel like we're still in some way useful. I'll try to schedule my work for days when she'll be home so as to give her the house to herself for the day.

As far as projects go, I've found that the ambition to actually do them isn't there like it once was. For sure the older I get the less tolerant of hot and/or humid weather I've become, so summer projects take way longer than they should.

 

[MossRoad]

I think a lot of couples go through that... especially with decades on the job in well defined rolls...

One of my friends decided to keep working... he said he had not planned on working and had the means to fully retire but found their relationship suffered with too much together time...

For others it's their ticket to explore the world together, make new friends and the culmination of years of work and planning.

That's what's kinda unknown to us. We've been all over the place, have both new and old friends, a very active social life, lots of activities, etc... right now.

We're guessing we'll be able to do a lot more volunteer work during normal business hours (it's hard finding places to volunteer after 5pm), and visit our kids more often, although they both moved back to Indiana this year and we see them every few weeks as it is now. They come to visit us!

I'm guessing we'll probably buy a small lake home somewhere or build on our property and sell our current place. That would make her very happy!

I'm sure we could travel more than our current vacation schedule allows. Still lots of places in the good old U.S. that we haven't seen.