Back to the Retirement Project

In the past month, I have neglected writing my blog, but I have accomplished a number of the goals that I set back in September.

I am proud to report that I am slowly but surely winning the battle of the bulge that I wrote about in November.  I made it through the Christmas holidays without losing ground and am now almost 10 pounds lighter than I was when I started on November 27.  I have been using the free website at http://www.everydayhealth.com  to record my food intake and exercise and I find that it keeps me focused and on task most of the time. 

Regarding my writing goals, I have drafted about 30 pages of memoir about my grandmother "Nonnie" and have shared it with my cousin Beth, who had lots of good suggestions and some added tidbits about our grandmother told from the perspective of one who lived under the same roof with her for most of her childhood.  I'm sticking with it right now as memoir, but as colorful as Nonnie was, the material could easily be used to develop a fictional character loosely based on her life.  My hope is to finish the memoir and then build on that body of work to launch into some fiction writing. 

I've been looking for just the right creative writing class to join--maybe at Wake or at Salem--to help in honing my writing skills, but have not located just what I want yet.  In searching the web for opportunities in the area of writing, I discovered that there are numerous free classes offered on line from many of the most prestigious universities. 

While exploring the catalog of titles, I got completely sidetracked by an Old Testament survey course offered by Yale Divinity School  ( http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies) .  The professor is a woman named Christine Hayes, and she has developed 24 lectures on the Old Testament that are available in transcript, audio, and video.  I began reading the lectures and then watching them, and I couldn't pry myself away.  I spent almost two weeks working my way through the material, stopping just long enough to make the bed, clean the dishes, and get dinner on before Bill came home at night. 

I have now started on the course entitled New Testament History and Literature, which is taught by Dale Martin, also of Yale Divinity School.  His course is equally interesting.  Robert has lent me his study bible to assist in following along with the readings.  It has been ages since I have done any systematic study of the Bible--probably as far back as the Old and New Testament courses I took at Furman. I think once I did try to work my way through LD Johnson's book on covering the Bible in a year, but never made it too far past Genesis. 

Everything I've gotten over the years in Sunday School and church is so random and unconnected.  The result is that there is a whole play list of scriptures stored up there in the I-tunes section of my brain and it's like somebody put them on shuffle before they pressed the play button. That's actually how I listened to the audio tape of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone some years back.  I commented to Todd that the book made no sense at all the way it kept jumping around.  Todd just shook his head and said, "Mom, you probably have it on shuffle."  Indeed I did, and what a difference it made when I discovered the shuffle button and turned it off.  That's somewhat how I feel now, listening to these lectures.  It's like somebody took the scriptures off shuffle for me. 

At any rate, that's how I've spent all my free time the last few weeks and why my writing has not progressed much.  I'm discovering that one of the delicious things about retirement is that you can get off track and explore interesting pathways that present themselves, and it's perfectly okay. 

I also decided to volunteer one day a week at Crisis Control Ministries, interviewing clients to establish the basis of their emergency and to determine if they meet the criteria for assistance.  Crisis Control operates a pharmacy and a grocery store, and has funds to  help with rent, utilities, and medication  for clients who need emergency assistance.  Bill and I have donated to Crisis Control for years and have been aware of the significant role the organization plays in the life of the community, but I had never spent any time there. 

For three mornings last week, I shadowed an experienced interviewer and learned about the intake and application process.  Monday, I will shadow a lead interviewer or supervisor who signs off on the applications, as well as approves assistance and writes checks, and have my final training with Cynthia Fearrington, who is the Director of Client Services.  I've enjoyed getting re-acquainted with Cynthia, who is also the mother of Matt, one of John Stillerman's friends from grade school.  We have reminisced a lot about the hours we spent out at the Little League park on Phillips Bridge Road, watching the boys and catching up on the gossip since the last season.

I finally succeeded in keeping lunch dates with two of my favorite people--my sister Betsy and my long time friend from Charlotte days, Carol Huffman.  Betsy and I met a week ago Thursday and got pedicures and then visited over lunch.  Carol and I met at Davidson last Tuesday and it was such a pretty sunny day, we ate our pannini and soup on the porch of a great Italian restaurant called Campania.  One thing that's so great is that it doesn't matter how much time has passed, when I get with Betsy or Carol, we can take up just where we left off last time 

January was a busy month and also one of great loss.  As I move forward with my retirement project, I am periodically hit with the reality of David's death and the huge hole he leaves in the lives of all our family. David was too young and we lost him too soon.  Life is fleeting and precious and we will do well in the relatively short time that it is ours to embrace it and all of those around us. David certainly did that, as evidenced by the outpouring of love and support on his behalf during his short illness and as he was memorialized. 

My retirement project makes more sense than ever in the light of what has happened the past two months and I am eager to continue my journey for happiness and meaning in my elder season. 

David Stillerman 1/31/1944--1/4/2012

On January 3, David had a stroke from which he could not recover.  He died peacefully and without pain on January 4, surrounded by his loving wife Carol and his children.  He was memorialized by family and numerous friends on January 7, at the First Presbyterian Church in Covington, Georgia. 

David's passing has created a huge hole in the lives of all who knew and loved him.  He is dearly missed.