Happy Birthday!

Le Anna's 1st Birthday!

Today's my birthday!  I'm 66 and per the SSA, I'm full retirement age.  Gosh, how did that happen?  I suspect my path to this point is not much different from many other women my age.  I grew up in a college town in CO, went off to another college town to attend school and met the man who I thought would be my husband for the rest of my life.  He wasn't, but he does remain a good friend and is the father of my children, so he will always be in my life.  After the divorce I went back to school and got my BS in Accounting and began working in the mining & minerals exploration industry in Western CO.  Along the way I met Bob, now my husband of 34 years and hopefully he will be the man in my life for always.

Bob and I moved to WA in late 1985 due to a massive downturn in the oil shale industry.  I'd been laid off from a major oil company a year earlier and actually welcomed a respite from going to work every day.  Our kids were young teens and they needed someone with a driver's license to shuttle them to/from their activities.  I was needed!  Bob was offered a job in WA so we gratefully moved.  Over the years we moved in and out of the Tri-Cities (Richland being one of the three) and my career did not follow a straight path.  I put my efforts into a couple small business ventures and also did a stint working as a government auditor.  Always, I put my husband's career first and my ambitions took a back seat.  I've actually been retired from working for a few years now.

Do I have regrets?  Well today I do.  Again, it is my 66th birthday and when I look at my SSA credits I wish I would have worked more.  When Bob and I plan  our retirement finances I can't help but think that I should have worked more.  I realize I could easily have put in 20 years with the government and had a nice retirement income.  My regrets are always about the money.  I'm an accountant so naturally I think about it.

But, I'm also Bob's life partner and we have had some amazing adventures along the way.  I never would have written my life journey to include living in Zambia, England, or even Canada . . . but we did due to Bob's career choices.  Frankly, for this CO/WA girl moving to SC was a cultural experience as well.  I'm grateful for all of the experiences along the way and hope that the path we choose for retirement will include more travel experiences, near and far.

So, today I'm 66 and I don't know where the years have gone.  But I know there will be more to experience.  I'm hopeful I am up for a few challenges and that I have enough insight during retirement to appreciate the journey.