During the summer I worked away in my garage to purge the many, many things I no longer used or wanted. I made many trips to a charity where they were more than happy to take my "treasures" and let others buy them for a fraction of the amount I had paid for them. It has felt good to clear away some of the clutter.
Also I managed to go the short walk to one of the two pools in my association. Like anything else, the more often I attended, the more friends I made. Each person brought his/her own interesting life — what they did before retiring, how many kids they have, where they were born and raised, etc. I found out some of us had many things in common. This same group of friends gathered together at the pool on Fridays from 5 - 7 pm for happy hour. I began looking forward to this each week.
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| L to R: Mary Jo, Colleen, and Rita |
The day these photos were taken was chilly—at least for me it was! My friends talked me into going home and changing into my suit.
And then Labor Day was fast approaching, when the pool would be closing for the next nine months! I decided I didn't want to loose contact with these new friends so I jotted down the contact information for each one and sent it as a global email so we can stay in touch. Living here this summer has been a gift for me and I look forward to many more times to spend with these new friends.
