Chapter 55 - Retirement
The next phrase of our life - Bob is retiring this month and
he wanted to leave the office quietly. To respect his wish, I will keep quiet
and only share the news with few of our close friends, family members and all
of my friends on Facebook and anyone who Google’s my name or sees my post on
Facebook. I would like to share some great
things about Bob.
Bob loves cats
He loves cats more than I love cats, and I
love cats! One meow, two meows or three meows and Bob is right there serving
them. Cats have trained him well. I
tried the meowing thing too but I don’t see any diamonds on my finger.
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| Helping with the chart |
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| Christmas 1985 |
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| Bob and Max, Grand Canyon 1986 |
Bob loves my cooking! Whatever I make he eats. He never criticizes
my cooking or says it needs more or less salt.
But his favor meal is cereal and milk for dinner, and I have that on the
dinner menu a few times a week.
Bob is a positive runner
In the early 90s, after he
finished law school and passed the California Bar, I said I would like him to
run a marathon with me. Bob said sure,
it would be fun to go to Hawaii for vacation and do a marathon. Bob trained for the Honolulu marathon in 3
weeks! Bob ran just a few miles a week prior
to the agreement. He increased that to 16 miles in 3 days. Yes, his legs were giving him some pain, and yes,
his feet were giving him real pain. I
kept on saying mind over body, mind over matter, no pain no gain, pain is normal.
On the day of the marathon there were
over 35,000 runners. Excitement was in the air.
The fireworks went off at 5:30am and off we ran. 24 miles later I saw someone limping up
Diamond Head road. It looked like Bob. I
crossed the finish line way after the 4 hour mark. Bob limped across after me
and said “I will never do this again.” Later he said he’ll never do this again
without proper training… and blah blah blah. For someone that logged just a few miles
a week to run a marathon in a little over the 4 hours is amazing. Yes, mind over pain!
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| High School Swimming Team |
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| Pain is good |
Bob the mechanic
Bob rebuilt the engine in my yellow Volkswagen Dasher after the spring 1983 flood in Brigantine (New Jersey) drowned it. Then he rebuilt the second engine for my replacement orange VW Dasher. Many years later Bob rebuilt our Toyota Camry engine. That was the last time Bob touched any engine.
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| Rebuilt the engine before the flood |
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| After the flood water receded back to the bay |
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| Orange VW Dasher |
Bob takes me to work
Bob took me for a ride in a B-52 (the
plane not the band). When we lived in
Arkansas in the 1980s the Air Force had a program that let a spouse ride in a plane,
getting off just before takeoff. Bob
submitted my name and I got to get in the B-52 before they flew a mission. I
sat behind the pilot and co-pilot while the crew did lots of stuff, started
engines and taxied to the runway. I think I was the first female that sat in that
seat on that particular plane. The plane
was loud and I was wearing a headphone and helmet and I could hear Bob’s voice
doing the checklist and talking to the pilot. Looking back at all the jobs Bob had,
I know flying in a military combat airplane is not a walk in the park! My hat’s
off to everyone in the military.
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| My certificate of taxiing in the B52 |
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| Bob and his crew, Blytheville AFB |
Now we start the next chapter in Bob’s (and my) adventure.
There will be more time to train for the next race, shop for the best dinner cereal, and set up the next cruise vacation. I can’t wait.
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