[DutchmenSport]

.... happened today at 10:00 a.m. Turned in my company laptop at 10:00 am today, all my company owned "stuff", and returned home! It's finally done! After years of planning and financial navigation, it's hard to believe "it" finally arrived.

No plans for the month of January and February for travel. We need to get past our income tax preparation for 2021. Gonna do one more thing after that, and that is to pre-pay and pre-arrange our funerals.

Everything else is paid for, the house is deeded over to our son, so it's our house (and his) forever. Someday, the nursing home can't take the house (like they did with my mother before she died), and all that's left is to travel, enjoy seeing parts of the U.S.A. we've never been to before, and finally having the time to spend in my wood work-shop without always feeling rushed or under the gun to get the latest project done, because of work demands at the office, or required overtime snatching time away.

Well, it finally happened today! After I turned in my laptop, I had about 3 hours of sadness, or emptiness, almost felt like when someone you know dies, or a pet dies. But I played with the dogs with their ball for a good hour today, worked on a wood working project I started several weeks ago, and now waiting on my son to get off work so we can have a small celebration.

It's been a long road. From 14 years old to 16 I worked bailing hay and in a gas station for my uncle. From 16-18 I worked in a small town, local Mom and Pop grocery store. From 18-23 I was in College. Also during that same time I worked part time at McDonalds, and 3 years in a Hospital kitchen. I also went to Israel for an entire year of study.

From 22 to 27 I was in the ministry as a pastor at 3 different churches. During that time, I also worked part time at .... good old McDonalds again.

From 27 to 32 I was in the US Army as a Chaplain Assistant. From 33 to about 43 I returned to the church as a pastor, and worked again part time at the same time at a public library.

The Army taught me computers and software, and during those same years I also started working in Information Technology, originally running printers for a software computer internet site. That led to another job running computers and installing hardware software for a mortgage banking company and by now, I was no longer in the Church as a pastor.

That led to a small family disruption that eventually returned my wife (which I married while I was in the Army) back to Indiana, and again did a few more years as a Pastor, and then made the switch to full time Information Technology as a software tester, where I've been for the last 20 years (same company, but many changes).

I now have 6 grandkids (4 girls, 2 boys). My daughter lives in Hawaii with her 5 kids and husband, and my son lives with us and his 8 year old son.

I've made some good friends over the years with all my jobs, don't care too much for Church any more, but I haven't given up on God! (But his people just stink sometimes!).

Covid dis some wonderful things for us over the last year and a half. It caused my office to shut the doors and we all worked from home. I took the work from home, on the road, and worked from camper almost all of 2021. Been to some great places. Had it not been for Covid, we could have not done near that much travel in 2021, if we (both my wife and me) had t work from the office.

So, I've had a year of transition being home, traveling extensively with the Montana, and adjusting financially to make everything work.

We are now looking forward to more travel. The wife is still working, so phone service is still essential for her hotspot connection and her company laptop (she is also Information Technology).

It had to believe it's over for me. But today was the day I planned for all my life!

I'm finally retired!