It’s been a busy couple of days.  We’ve had friends in town to visit, and have taken them to several Portland restaurants and to many area wineries.  I have consumed too much alcohol and food, with Paris right around the corner.  We leave tomorrow morning, in fact, and are hiding the packed suitcases in our closet, so the dogs don’t start getting depressed.

I’ve been thinking about what life will be like in 20 years, since one of our guests brought his 84 year-old mother.  They had all gone to her other son’s wedding in California, and thought that Mom would want to rest when they arrived to see us here in Portland.  Not so! In fact, she wanted to make sure that we stopped at a legal pot store while she was in Oregon.  It was classic mother-son role reversal, with the son saying no!

Being in the honeymoon stages of retirement, I was intrigued with what life would be like at 84.  I’ve spent too much time around my wife’s 93 year-old mother, but the issue there is communication not health.  She can’t hear, so it’s difficult to have a conversation, and I find it to be a bit depressing when I put myself in her position.  However, this 84 year-old woman was full of life!  I enjoyed my conversations with her.

She had just moved from her home in Philadelphia to live near her son, and was going through that difficult stage of adjusting to a retirement community in a strange town.  This trip to California and Oregon delayed the settling-in process, but she will need to make new friends and start a new life when she gets back.  She had a very good attitude, despite the fact that her movements were slow, and she needed some help getting around.  I’m sure she was tired, but made fun of the fact that “the blood took awhile to get to her feet” once she stood up.   It was her sense of humor that made all of us comfortable.  I would have liked to get to know her better, and I only hope that I can maintain my sense of humor for at least another 20 years.  As my mom would say, “getting old is not for wimps!”

We all need to be prepared for what is ahead.  This retirement cruise from Paris will hopefully be one of many pleasurable trips  that we’ll experience over the next 15 years. What happens after that time frame may very well be the toughest part of life!  All your friends may be gone, you may have to leave your home, and you’ll probably have to ask for help more often. These are the true hassles of retirement.  I, too, will undoubtedly be asking where the nearest pot store is located?