"May your love be your only religion...
May your eyes be wide and seeing
May you learn from the view where you're kneeling

Now the fear of the world you've been feeling

Is the fear of a slave....

May you worship the time that is passing
Stars won't ever wait for you
To watch them fall
 

Iron & Wine, Biting Your Tail

 

   These are my hopes and prayers for myself as I begin my retirement years.  I am, as of yesterday, a retired "English teacher", a veteran of over 30 years.  I am eager for the road ahead, not imagining that it will be easy but that it will be different, exciting, whatever I make of it.

   The "love" part will be easy.  I have a dear family of two daughters, twin grandsons age 4, their little brother who will arrive this fall, my mom and my sister.  Some of them live far away, but love travels freely no matter the distance.  And I have a sweet cat named Rosie who has no doubt that she owns me.

   My greatest fears swirl in my head around being old, broke, and miserable in a crummy nursing home in a city. I'll be working on those fears by pinching pennies, practicing meditation and yoga, hiking, savoring, appreciating, living, every moment of these years.

   This little British robin perched beside me recently as 28 of my students and I waited for a castle tour in the British countryside. I held my breath, hoping no one would scare him away.  He tilted his head, this tiny puff of feathers and attitude, his beady little eye looked right into mine,  and I heard, "You're gonna be all right!"

   Yes.  Oh, yes, I am!