Mile Markers Along the Road

Yesterday, we celebrated The Man's 50th birthday. He asked to keep it low key, so I did. The guys at the office did not.




In the evening as we walked to our favorite sushi spot for dinner, I asked him if he felt any different. He said he did not, for which I'm glad. To me, age is merely a number. However, that number serves as a mile marker along the road and reminds us that we are getting closer to the end of our journey. I'm not being morbid. I see that number more as a reminder to get up, get going, LIVE! I get an overwhelming sense of urgency. DO IT! DO IT NOW!!

The two biggest factors in retirement, as I see it, are health and finances. If we aren't healthy and don't keep ourselves in good shape physically, we aren't going to fair too well on those cobbled streets and we won't get to live The Big Adventure in the way we envision it for ourselves. On the financial side of the house, we keep calculating and recalculating the financial aspect of The Big Adventure. I'm constantly searching for every bit of information that I can find that will give us a realistic picture of our ability to retire at the earliest possible moment (which is, as of this writing, 41 months 6 days from today) or are we going to have to/need to work a few more years. We are both genetically blessed with longevity. Will our pensions plus the amount of money we have saved 41 months 6 days from now be enough to comfortably sustain us for, oh say, the next 30 years?

The Man was 22 and I was 18 when we first met. We've been married for almost 28 years now. We've spent all those years on the treadmill of life, working and raising our sons. Our two sons are grown and on their own now. The way I see it, we are on our own now, too, SO LET'S GO! I dream of the day that neither one of us has to wake up to an alarm clock. The day when we can spend our time together doing what WE want to do; when we can walk those cobbled streets together, get a caffe, walk through the market for our groceries for the day, take long walks through the countryside, maybe go for a bike ride, explore our new surroundings, watch the sunset on Italian hills...just live out the rest of our days together on our Big Adventure. The mile markers are telling me it's time to jump off the highway and take the scenic route.

Happy Birthday, baby. I love you.