What does a typical marriage of 34 years look like? Are we typical? I don’t know. It’s getting harder and harder to tell these days. But like most people, we like to think of ourselves as “the norm,” the typical old married couple looking to savor life at this stage of the game.
Gary is turning 65 this summer—the magical age when the promise of cheaper healthcare coverage and discounted movie tickets lingers in the air. I’m 61 and find myself retiring—for the second time—from teaching, a profession that has brought me much joy, purpose, and plenty of interesting stories.
We’ve been together for a lifetime, raised two amazing sons, and recently became grandparents to the most beautiful little girl. Both of our boys live in Jacksonville, Florida. Cameron, 31, is a registered nurse. Carter and his fiancée, Maddy, both 28, are the proud parents of little Avaya, who is four months old.
Over the years, Gary and I have lived in six states, moving for his career as a hospital CIO. We’ve called New Hampshire, Texas, Indiana, and Florida home—having both originally come from New York and worked in Massachusetts, where we met 37 years ago this summer.
Moving around offered us many opportunities: we never let our homes get too cluttered, never grew too complacent, and learned that we genuinely enjoyed meeting new people.
We’ve also been fortunate to travel together to many countries over the years, including Canada, Mexico, Greece, Ireland, England, Italy, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Gary’s checked off a few more destinations from the years before he became part of a “we.”
We often took the boys on road trips, and like the Griswolds, we had some truly awesome family adventures. Deserts, mountains, lakes, big cities—we took it all in. I like to think we’ve passed our love of travel on to them.
But the idea of living on the road had always been just a fantasy—until 2019, when we decided to sell it all, pack it up, and travel the country in 250 square feet of space.
We spent a year making our dream into a reality. If you followed our previous blog, you went along with us for all the ups and downs, the funny stories and even the annoying mishaps. It was truly a life altering year, one where we both learned more about ourselves and this country than either one of us had planned.
These past five years spent in Naples, Florida, has been a whirlwind. Suffering through the pandemic, starting new jobs, loosing Gary’s dad, having some health issues, joining the grandparents club, and enjoying this incredible weather on an almost daily basis has been keeping us busy.
But one day it hits you, that feeling of needing change, of wanting more, and of hearing that proverbial clock ticking. The window of time to climb another mountain, to explore a hidden cave, to sail a new ocean, and the time to sit and do nothing in peace starts to feel shorter and shorter.
So, that is US, Gary and Cathy, two wild and crazy retirees (and our two dogs), off on another adventure. This time around, we plan on dividing our time between the open road, time with the family in Jacksonville, and relaxing here in Naples.We look forward to you joining us through this blog and we hope you find it anything but typical