Retirement Tale

As a young Home Economics Agent one of my favorite things was visiting the Homemakers clubs during their monthly meetings.  This was a great opportunity to visit and enjoy the lively fellowship of the groups.  Although you aren't supposed to show favoritism, one club always stands out in my mind.  This group of women had mastered the art of living well.  They were all rural, country women living in a tiny community out in the county.  They had raised their children, helped on the farm, worked for outside income in various jobs, and never lost their ability to see the giggle in it all.  This was a group of women that never let life interfere with having fun!   Although their lives had held times of sorrow, hardship, trials and frustrations they never failed to find humor and laughter to help them along.  Visiting with them was always an adventure.

On one of my early visits the women were sharing the various "joys" of having their husbands retire and hang around the house.  There were lots of groans and laughter as they told of husbands being constantly underfoot after years of having the house to themselves.  They told of the constant clutter of projects and mess of unfinished repairs.  They shared tales of torn up landscaping and do-it-yourself nightmares with emergency calls to plumbers.  Each was greeted with laughter, giggles and sympathy. 

Finally, one of the ladies, who had been quietly listening, piped up.  "Girls, you just don't know how bad it can be.  Wendell has finally topped everything!"

She reported that Wendell's retirement from his job as the principal of the local school had not turned out to be the dream that they thought it would.  At first she thought that they would adjust to sharing the same space again after all these years.  However, it soon became apparent that the two of them just did things differently.  If she was running the sweeper he would question why she didn't do it this way.  If she was making the beds he would suggest it would work better if she did it this way.  If she was washing clothes he would have an idea for better sorting.  He organized her grocery lists, rearranged her bookshelf, and set up a new bookkeeping system for her checkbook. 

So it was with some feeling of escape that she left one day to get a new perm and some much needed down time at the beauty shop.  The process promised her at least several hours of sympathetic understanding.  Her husband, left to his own devices, decided that he would attempt to alleviate some of the stress and do something to surprise her.  He looked around and thought about all of the work that she did and especially the wonderful meals she prepared.  He felt sure that if her kitchen were just a little more efficient then she wouldn't have to work so hard.  With that, he set to work, emptying every cabinet and drawer and rearranging each item in what he considered a much more organized and efficient manner.  He then wandered off to visit with his friends and tell them how much he had helped his wife.

The perm completed, she arrived home to begin preparing supper.  She opened the cabinet to grab a skillet only to discover it filled with dishes.  She found the skillet finally in the space under the sink.  The spices were now on the canned goods shelf and the canned goods were where the dishes had been.  On and on she went trying to find the items she needed for their meal.  Finally in frustration she took off her apron and settled in the living room, where she waited for his return.  When he came into the room, she eyed him coldly and announced. "You arranged the kitchen to suit you, so start cooking!"

She said they had a lovely meal at the restaurant in town.