When we decided retirement from education was within reach, my good friend, John, gave me pinpoint advice. He said everyone has two fingers, with each finger representing ten years. Basically, we have 20 years once we retire when we are still heathy enough to enjoy life after work. We can travel and do all of the things we dreamed about doing. He urged us to not waste our two fingers. 

What a person never expects is that one’s health might become a roadblock. But we hear it happening all of the time. Dave retired from education almost five years ago, and I retired almost four years ago. We have spent that time being responsible for Dave’s mom, who is 84, and for Grandpa Yoas, who is almost 106. In the midst of all that, the last two years of battling cancer sent travel plans awry. I’m sorry to say that we are down to 1 1/2 fingers now. 

Not wanting to be selfish but knowing one of two fingers seems to be a shortened stub, we are heading out to do what we have dreamed of doing. We have dubbed it our celebration list. Warm weather is calling us, cross-country travel is on our map and attending Tigers’ spring training has always been on our line-up card. Designing the list of where the wind would blow us was fun. Figuring out how and when was a bit more challenging. Because Dave is still being closely monitored at Karmanos, we also have to fit in appointments with his doctor. Also, wandering too far from home also means designing a quick return if needed. 

Yet, those roadblocks are minor compared to our prior path. So, forging ahead is exciting and also such a blessing. With Dave’s blood counts holding steady, his energy returning and his weight continuing to increase, we will begin checking things off our celebration list. I will continue to share our exciting journey because the entire Tag Team deserves to enjoy it as well. Your prayers and support have meant the world to us. So, we are off and running because there’s no time to waste.