It is the tail end of summer.
No more heat, no more barbecue, no more beach days.
And yet……
I am retired this year! “Fall” doesn’t actually start on the first day of school. “Fall” doesn’t start until it gets to cool to swim. It won’t be here until the frost. Until the leaves turn golden. Until we switch from fresh lettuce to fresh squash.
For the first time in many, many years, for me summer won’t end until baseball is over! Until (if God truly loves us) the Cubs have surprised everyone.
For the first time in oh, so very long, summer is not defined by the first day of school. Summer for me will last until I feel cold. Until the frost is literally on the pumpkin.
For the first time in my life, I think, I am heading off to the beach for a weekend in the fall! Paul and I will be going down to the Cape on Friday, taking a ferry to Oak Bluffs to meet our wonderful, generous, boat-owning friends. We are going to spend the very first weekend of meteorological autumn on the ocean, on a boat, on Martha’s Vineyard.
I am SO PSYCHED. I am beyond delighted. I am ecstatic. I can’t even breathe, I am so happy.
School is in session. Kids are reviewing math facts and choosing “just right books.” And I don’t care.
I am free. I am liberated.
I will spend the beginning of “the end” soaking up the last rays of the sun on the deck, sharing a good bottle of wine with my pals, watching the sun set over the island.
It may be the “end” of summer, but for the first time in more than two decades, it isn’t “the end” of my freedom.
You gotta love retirement.
Empty Nest, Full Life 
I do! I’ve been retired from teaching for 34 years! You won’t believe how much you are going to enjoy a non-vicarious life. I loved teaching, but I’ve loved having my own life more! I did have other careers after teaching, but retired again 14 years ago and everyone I know loves this stage of life. Welcome into our midst. http://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/09/22/sacrificial-offering/
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Thank you, Judy! How lovely it is to forget what day of the week we’re enjoying!!!
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Just wait until you forget the year. Yep. It is possible. Just momentary, though. It comes back!
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Woo Hoo!!!! Xo
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Didn’t mean to rub it in! But now I can be the wine after work hostess!
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Enjoy your new beginning. For the first time in 19 years I’m child free from 9 to 4 pm. It’s amazing and feels soooo long. Loving it and my little one is settling in fantastic to secondary school so no worries or guilt.
New beginnings are not half bad. We deserve them.
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Ah, and I will be once again spending all day with a baby very soon! My little granddaughter will be with me all day starting in November. I will be so happy to have some structure back in my days……!
Enjoy your days! Are you working on a book, I hope?!
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I’m so glad the joys of retirement are setting in!
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I have only two words: SOoooo jealous!! 😉
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