Cwalker935
Member
In mid-December of 2019, I was enjoying retirement with no thoughts of returning to work, becoming a Grandparent, or dealing with a pandemic. I had plenty of quiet time doing some turning, getting out for an occasional hike, and planning our next trip. Life was good. A simple phone call from My old boss started a chain of events that I could not have imagined in my wildest imagination. She somehow coerced me into returning to the work for a "few months" to run a troubled division that had lost its Director in a boating accident and to find a new Director for a he Division. My thought process was "hey I can handle a few months of work and maybe earn enough money to pay for another trip or some new tools." What I did not anticipate was quickly becoming vested in the people of the division. In a very short time, I grew to like a diverse group of employees and their commitment to public safety. The initial search for a new Director did not go as hoped and I agreed to extend my stay a little longer. My daughters decided to contribute to the disruption of my once happy little world by announcing that they were both pregnant with their first children. A short time later Covid 19 raised its ugly head and rocked everyone's world. As if that was not enough, my youngest daughter learned that she was actually expecting twins. To cut the story short, my "few months" became a year, my wife and I were blessed with three grandchildren the week of Thanksgiving, I learned a lot of new things about myself, and was touched by a group of fantastic people. While 2020 was stressful and filled with lots of anxiety, the rewards far outweighed the pain. We have successfully found a new Director and I am retiring once again. While I now know that things are unlikely to work out as I plan, I intend to spend 2021 spoiling the new grandkids- Aaliyah, Aaron and Kirby, doing some woodworking, and doing some traveling.
