Honey Speck
and Social Security
07/06/2006 10:57 PM
Honey Speck will
reach the Social Security age Friday. He has been waiting 62 years for this and
finally, the time has come. Whether or not he will take the big leap remains to
be seen, but I have noticed that since the call was made to the Social Security
Administration and he has learned that all of those years at hard labor can
finally payoff, a little bit of the pressure to keep going seems to have been
removed from his shoulders.
Kind of like when a couple gets a divorce then get back
together without the binding marriage license. It appears to me that what
happens is that even though they are together, neither is really
committed and therefore the independent attitude takes over. I think it's the
old "lump it or leave it"
philosophy, but what do I know? Merely an observation on my part. However, this
Social Security
option does apparently offer somewhat of a sense of freedom for him.
Twenty-one years ago when we bought our old house and
he remodeled, he got overheated while up on the roof one day. (A little reminder
from God to slow down.) Since that time, the heat has affected him. Two years
ago he pushed himself a couple of hours beyond heat exhaustion and the guys
found
him pulled off the side of the road. That was probably the day we stripped him
and put that tall lanky body into a tub of cool water until he regained his
senses.
This year, as so many of us know, is unbearable, or it
has been. If nothing else, he does now know enough to come in out of the heat,
but this is a hard thing for a man who has worked from sunup to past sun down
... getting in a full day's work. It has been hard for him to admit it's time to
slow down, but he's getting there.
But wait ...we haven't made our fortune yet! He can't
quit work, what will we do, etc., etc., etc. What about retiring? What about our
pot of gold? Another house sold in Oacoma recently for 75-80 thousand big ones
and I came to the conclusion that we are sitting in our pot of gold. Hold that
thought!
We bought our big old house for four figures. He worked
in Montana five days on and five days off. His five days off were spent
hell-bent-for-leather, building on six or seven more rooms, the carport and
patio.We used to use the whole house. Today we use half of it.
Sell the dang thing to a young couple with three or
four kids; put some life back into the old house. They can make that climb
upstairs in the time it takes me to get up three. If we could just take the top
half off and stretch it out back it would make a wonderful place to live
forever. Even Ed's grass mowing chores could be cut in half... set the top of
the house on that back yard! Sounds like a plan to me (for the next generation.)
I don't know if he will be good to himself and retire
or not, we will have to wait and see. First, he will have to give himself
permission. He is his mother's son and those of you who know her remember the
drive she had. That was passed down to Ed and her reputation precedes him. No,
he doesn't have to work to age 80 like she did. Whatever he decides will work
for me.
I expect retiring is done in stages; cut back a little,
then a little more and then just be a piddler
if your conscience won't let you come to a stop. Can't say. I have never been in
that position and
I'm sure it is different for everyone. However, I myself have cut back to 16
hours a week and it was really strange for awhile, then it got easier and now I
just have too darned much to do at home. I find having to come to work a
nuisance. I almost don't have time to work, but I will ... I think ...
Go for it, old man. Be a piddler! Happy birthday.
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