After working for 35 years in demanding career fields, Jake and Kathryn looked forward to slowing their pace. They rarely spoke of how to spend their new found time, they only celebrated that retirement was finally here.
After the first month of no longer being enslaved by the alarm clock, the couple had to face facts. They did not agree on how to spend retirement. Not one little bit.
After traveling the majority of his career as an executive, Jake wanted to be stationary. But his wife’s counseling practice kept her so busy that she barely got a week vacation each year.
Kathryn was irritated. Her husband was comatose in front of the TV. When she requested that they ride bikes or sign up for a cooking class, Jake pretended to be asleep.
As they searched for ways to compromise with each other, a friend suggested a visit to Galloway Ridge, a uniquely designed retirement community.
The idea worked out perfectly.
These days, Jake and Kathryn now meet their own individual needs, without putting pressure on each other. They love their apartment where Jake snoozes later in the morning than his wife. And instead of getting angry, Kathryn takes off to attend a class or practice her golf swing.
Jake wanders over to the Weatherfield Café for coffee and chats with the guys and Kathryn strolls across the campus to get her hair done. Jake enjoys a card game during the week and a lively game or two of billiards every other Saturday. Kathryn attends most of the musical events and nearly all one-day outings with neighbors.
Jake still likes to be at home, with the TV remote in hand. Instead of being upset about that, Kathryn now embraces that her retirement lifestyle is much different than her husband’s. While Jake watches Westerns in the early evening hours, Kathryn walks with friends on the trail. And all of that is okay.
They make time to do things together as a couple and with other friends, too. So now everyone is content and happy with the retirement they have built. No matter how differently they approach it, Jake and Kathryn see that retirement can be amazing for both of them. Nobody ever said a couple had to be Siamese twins in order to be happily retired, now did they?
