Tonight we celebrated my husband's early retirement from one of the big three automakers after 21 years of service. He took an optional retirement package and is now looking for new employment.
We went to the Olive Garden.
Mike and I have a long standing joke about how wherever the worst table in the restaurant is that is where we will be sat. If there's a table next to the bathroom or the kitchen, it's ours. Well... my daughters Anne (21) and Mary (12) came in a separate car and arrived before the rest of the family and requested a table.
Anne has, shall we say, much more of a personal sense of style than either of her parents. The table we were given had to have been the VERY BEST table in the restaurant. It was a large corner table set diagonally in front of two full windows with a great view. Not only that, it was somewhat separated from the rest of the restaurant by dividers and had a trellised ceiling with grape vines intertwined and hanging from it. It was lovely. We said from now on Anne gets our tables. My youngest daughter in response to my enthusiasm for the table said, "Mom, they're not real grape vines!"
They looked real enough. We had a lovely dinner celebrating how hard Mike has worked for us. Now I ask for your prayers that, through the intercession of Saint Joseph, he will be led to whatever the next job is that the Lord wants him to do.
We went to the Olive Garden.
Mike and I have a long standing joke about how wherever the worst table in the restaurant is that is where we will be sat. If there's a table next to the bathroom or the kitchen, it's ours. Well... my daughters Anne (21) and Mary (12) came in a separate car and arrived before the rest of the family and requested a table.
Anne has, shall we say, much more of a personal sense of style than either of her parents. The table we were given had to have been the VERY BEST table in the restaurant. It was a large corner table set diagonally in front of two full windows with a great view. Not only that, it was somewhat separated from the rest of the restaurant by dividers and had a trellised ceiling with grape vines intertwined and hanging from it. It was lovely. We said from now on Anne gets our tables. My youngest daughter in response to my enthusiasm for the table said, "Mom, they're not real grape vines!"
They looked real enough. We had a lovely dinner celebrating how hard Mike has worked for us. Now I ask for your prayers that, through the intercession of Saint Joseph, he will be led to whatever the next job is that the Lord wants him to do.
8 comments:
Wow! Retirement day! That's exciting, although I think I would also be kind of scared, not knowing about the future, you know what I mean.
God bless your husband for all his years of service.
What a great provider your hubbie has been. Praying for his continued endeavours for your family.
God Bless!
Rosemary,
It sounds like a perfectly wonderful evening. I will pray for you and your husband as you transition to this next phase of your life. We are not far behind you. My husband has been in the Air Force for nearly 26 years and expects to transition to a civilian job in the next year or two. Just go forward in faith!
My dad is still waiting it out. They worked for the same company right?
God bless you and your family.
Aw...I know what you mean...Danny is 56 now and in a few years could take the earlier retirement. I wish it could be now! Still, I will pray for you all. Nice dinner...nice family! :)
Oh! Congratulations to him! What will he do now? I hope stay home and chase you around the house, that would be fun! Ok, back to reality...enjoy his retirement and start really living life, I kind of envy him! I think I'll retire tomorrow (just for tomorrow, hubs is home because of snowstorm) and enjoy the day in his honor!
It's exciting in a way, but it's not really retirement in that he is still supporting a family and we can not yet access our retirement savings without penalty. In other words... he still needs another job. This auto company (which is the same your dad works for, Jodi,) offered optional early retirement packages for workers over 50 in order to reduce their workforce. He didn't have to take it but if he didn't he would risk a possible layoff later without the retirement benefits. Younger workers were offered buyouts. He needs to find another engineering job. He's had some interviews already so we're hopeful. It's a big change. Thanks for prayers.
Sending prayers for a new job offer to come soon!
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