I turned in my resignation today and will enter the ranks of the retired on September 11. I hadn't planned on retiring this early but I came to the conclusion I cannot buy these years back. My wife was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year. Not real noticeable yet to most, but I see the progression. I want to spend time with Etta while she is in reasonably good physical health and before this insidious disease takes it toll and we cannot do and enjoy the things we've always loved.
There will come a point when I have to care for her daily. Maybe in a year, maybe in ten years. That's the reality of dementia. I didn't want to work up until that point and then regret missing these good years when we could enjoy being together. It will be a big change but we are in a pretty good place financially. I'll still do some fill in work for the company and still have my credentials as a firearms instructor and wildlife intervention instructor and will do classes from time to time for the company.
And I have the sawmill. I'm looking forward to the freedom to run it without the demands of a full time plus job. It has turned a pretty good bit of business for me already this year. The beauty of the mill is it doesn't call me on my off time. It doesn't text me with the latest emergency as I'm walking in the church doors Sunday morning. And it doesn't mind if I want to take a day off to spend it with Etta.
So retirement here I come. I wasn't sure I'd actually get to this day.
Good on you Mart. I wish you two many happy days.
Congratulations! Enjoy YOUR time.
Congratulations. You've earned it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as possible.
Good luck.
Glad you can spend some time.
Enjoy your time together. Retirement is a start not an end. Edk
I think that’s a good decision .
Happy Trails
Bob
You both need to go knock out some bucket list sightseeing destinations.
Wish i would have done that years ago now. Didnt want to quit seeing patients i had seen for years and considered as friends. Didnt trust other eye docs to take care of them. Eye docs are sometimes a crazy lot. Exept for me, of course.
Now i fear i dont have what it takes to do the fishing i worked to retire to do. Theres another eye doc in town needing some help. Ha. Poor bastid. Wonder if i should go help him out.
A decision, I too would make, if ever faced with same.
😎
Sorry to hear about your wife. Hopefully with the advances in medication, the onset will be postponed as long as possible. Good job regarding your priorities, I admire that! Enjoy your retirement!
Good decision.
Enjoy, and best wishes for Etta.
I turned in my resignation today and will enter the ranks of the retired on September 11. I hadn't planned on retiring this early but I came to the conclusion I cannot buy these years back. My wife was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year. Not real noticeable yet to most, but I see the progression. I want to spend time with Etta while she is in reasonably good physical health and before this insidious disease takes it toll and we cannot do and enjoy the things we've always loved.
There will come a point when I have to care for her daily. Maybe in a year, maybe in ten years. That's the reality of dementia. I didn't want to work up until that point and then regret missing these good years when we could enjoy being together. It will be a big change but we are in a pretty good place financially. I'll still do some fill in work for the company and still have my credentials as a firearms instructor and wildlife intervention instructor and will do classes from time to time for the company.
And I have the sawmill. I'm looking forward to the freedom to run it without the demands of a full time plus job. It has turned a pretty good bit of business for me already this year. The beauty of the mill is it doesn't call me on my off time. It doesn't text me with the latest emergency as I'm walking in the church doors Sunday morning. And it doesn't mind if I want to take a day off to spend it with Etta.
So retirement here I come. I wasn't sure I'd actually get to this day.
I'm so sorry about your wife. I will pray for her recovery.
I just spoke about that issue to a group, some of which know they have early stage dementia, at an assisted living home. .....so I can sympathize.
With the Lord's help, I was able to see a complete reversal of a family member's dementia. He went on to live independently for two more decades. That's all I can say online, but wanted to encourage you.
She is blessed to have a husband like you.
Good decision and best of luck
Good decision.
Enjoy, and best wishes for Etta.
Indeed.
Mart, I am very sorry to hear about your wife having dementia. I know what it means as my wife suffered early onset Alzheimer's disorder, also. I wish you and your wife the very best.
I suggest you get a copy of The 36 Hour Day book. It is extremely helpful, written by two medical people who have dealt with dementia patients for some time. It certainly helped me when things became more and more difficult.
Best of luck.
L.W.
Best wishes to you and Etta. We only get one turn on this merry go round of life. Seek your happiness.
Can't think of a better reason to retire, than to spend more time with family. God bless you and yours.
Good luck and enjoy the free time.
My dad got dementia but his didn't start until his late 80's. They became RV'ers for about 10 years and traveled everywhere in the country. Once Dad's dementia kicked in, though, it progressed pretty fast.
Congrats! I hope you two have some future trips planned!
You are a good man, mart.
I wish you the very best mart
Hoping you have a great retirement and can do wonders for your wife. As if you haven't already.
Good luck with it all.
I am glad for you. I am also glad that it sounds like you are staying up here. Good people need to stay in Ak and the libby's need to move to Portland. Hopefully, you will have more time to hunt and fish with your wife. They are our better half and you always sound well adjusted. Sounds like you are ready to buy a place out in the basin so you no longer have to pay property tax.
Congrats on retirement. So sorry to hear of your wife's issues.
Good decision mart. I wish the best to you and your wife.
You deserve it Mart, and so does Etta.
Congrats Mart. Your reasoning is sound and i truly admire you for it.
Time is the one thing we cannot make....your decision is as strong move and I commend you for it! Bon Voyage!
Prayers and best wishes for your wife, Mart. I hope retirement leaves you enough time to spend some on here....you’re definitely one of the good guys here.
Hope the best for your wife. Enjoy the retirement. I can't wait till I can tell them KODA.
Good on you , dude, and I pray you and your wife have some peaceful , loving times yet to cherish.
wish y'all many more good years.
'Bout time you got to the important things...
Good man....
God Bless you and your wife Mart. May you enjoy the rest of your lives.
A hard and good decision made by a hard and good man.
Congratulations Mart!! I hope you and the wife have the time of your life.
Prayers for your wife.
Hope you both have a great retirement!
Enjoy while you can. Time never slows down.
Bless you and your wife, wish you two many years of good health.
Good man, my wife works for a dementia foundation, PM me if we can be of any help
Good deal. Sounds like a wise decision.
I am trying to decide how to do this exact thing. The path isn't in front of me yet, but I'm searching for where it starts.
Congrads Brother! enjoy life!
Excellent. Taking care of your girl is Job One. Good man.
Congratulations, enjoy your time together.
Good on you Mart. I wish you two many happy days.
I'll echo my friend, here.
Congratulations, I think you will like retirement.
Congrats, mart.
You earned it.
Excellent. Taking care of your girl is Job One. Good man.
Yep. Good luck to you, Mart.
Enjoy a little freedom.
Congratulations. Sounds like you've got your values in good order. Time with family is irreplaceable
Good man, Mart.
For any posers out there, this is the kind of thing a man does.
This is the reason you busted your butt all these years. Circumstances aren't perfect, but that's OK. Savor the moment and your family.
Put your wristwatch on a shelf and measure time by a calendar and the seasons. Best wishes to you.
It sure sounds like the right thing to do. Prayers for the wife, and hoping you both enjoy retirement!
sounds like you've earned. I truly hope you make the most of it
Congratulations on your retirement! Sorry to hear about your Wife.
Easy decision.....run with it.......
You both need to go knock out some bucket list sightseeing destinations.
You made the right decision. Enjoy your time.
Ya did the right thing. A man only has so much time on this earth. Spend it your way.
Congrats Mart........start enjoying life!
Thanks so much for all the well wishes. We don't have any big plans to travel. We enjoy simple things. She fell in love with me because I brought her blackberries I picked on my lunch break when I worked for the Forest Service. I with her because she offered to help me skin coyotes when I was making a living in the winter trapping.
We may sit on the covered deck and listen to the rain on the roof, me with a coffee and her with her tea. Might go for drive to look at the fall colors in the tundra or run out to Chickaloon to have pie with our friends. They have a small cafe. She'll have cherry and I'll have buttermilk coconut. We'll probably watch Quigley Down Under and Second Hand Lions several more times. Might stay up late and go out to watch the northern lights. All without the umbilical of work to distract us.
Thanks again guys for all the kind words.
A decision, I too would make, if ever faced with same.
😎
Yup, me too, in a heartbeat !
You are doing the right thing.
I had to quite work when I was 57, due to problems with my eyes. Less money than I planned for retirement but we live very, very comfortably. Looking back, would not change the things we have been able to do, like spend time with Mom, new Grandson, visit friends, etc.... for the extra money. Live life while you can and you will never regret it.
Good man sir! Best wishes for a happy retirement with Etta. May God bless both of you in the coming years.
congrats !
9 yrs ahead of ya
Good for you!
I'm sorry to hear about your wife. Bummer.
Best wishes!
Internet wisdom is worth what you pay for it, but let me share a little encouraging first hand knowledge with you. My close friend's wife was diagnosed 11 years ago, they were devastated, but decided to soldier on as best they could, followed Doctors tips for living with it and, a positive attitude, a determination to quality of life...in her case they have slowed the progression to the Doctor's amazement. Aducanumab is too late for her, but, a simple little thing like frequent high protein food portions (jerky for one thing) when she is entering a "spell" has helped wonderfully. She travels with him and I to gun shows and minds the table while we are cruisin' and perusin', and doing darn good. Chin up, brother.
Mart,
Good call and congratulations. All the best to you and Etta.
John
Congrats Mart, Bless your Wife, hope you both have 50 years left to hunt and enjoy life.
Congrats on a life well-lived to date with hopefully decades more to come. All the best.
GW
That's Great------I'm right behind you---212 Days or 7months or 30 paychecks. April 2nd for me.
Thanks so much for all the well wishes. We don't have any big plans to travel. We enjoy simple things. She fell in love with me because I brought her blackberries I picked on my lunch break when I worked for the Forest Service. I with her because she offered to help me skin coyotes when I was making a living in the winter trapping.
We may sit on the covered deck and listen to the rain on the roof, me with a coffee and her with her tea. Might go for drive to look at the fall colors in the tundra or run out to Chickaloon to have pie with our friends. They have a small cafe. She'll have cherry and I'll have buttermilk coconut. We'll probably watch Quigley Down Under and Second Hand Lions several more times. Might stay up late and go out to watch the northern lights. All without the umbilical of work to distract us.
Thanks again guys for all the kind words.
Sounds like a perfect plan!
in july my back was so bad, i could not get off the floor.
the surgeon said he had never seen a spinal cord so inflamed. I f he hadn't caught it, another coupld of days i would have been dead or paralized from the neck down.
so a week in the hospital, a month in rehab, and i am home using a walker and a chair. I can walk with the walker, and legs and arms work, just week.
i have been told i am moving really well given the surgery.
One of the things it prompted me to do is q uite working. I really stopped needing the money a long time ago, b ut working since i was about 9, hard to pull the plug.
but my job now is the rehab,and i don't want to miss the start of another dove season like i am doing now.
still haven't shot your revolver yet, dang it.
Best decision you could have made. All the best from here. May God be kind to Etta.
I turned in my resignation today and will enter the ranks of the retired on September 11. I hadn't planned on retiring this early but I came to the conclusion I cannot buy these years back. My wife was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year. Not real noticeable yet to most, but I see the progression. I want to spend time with Etta while she is in reasonably good physical health and before this insidious disease takes it toll and we cannot do and enjoy the things we've always loved.
There will come a point when I have to care for her daily. Maybe in a year, maybe in ten years. That's the reality of dementia. I didn't want to work up until that point and then regret missing these good years when we could enjoy being together. It will be a big change but we are in a pretty good place financially. I'll still do some fill in work for the company and still have my credentials as a firearms instructor and wildlife intervention instructor and will do classes from time to time for the company.
And I have the sawmill. I'm looking forward to the freedom to run it without the demands of a full time plus job. It has turned a pretty good bit of business for me already this year. The beauty of the mill is it doesn't call me on my off time. It doesn't text me with the latest emergency as I'm walking in the church doors Sunday morning. And it doesn't mind if I want to take a day off to spend it with Etta.
So retirement here I come. I wasn't sure I'd actually get to this day.
Congrats and wishing you all the best.... and may the Good Lord be kind to Etta...
Marty, I just saw this. Best to you both. Many years to go before that time comes for me. I am happy for you my friend. Tell Etta that you are both in our prayers.