THE WEIRS TIMES & THE COCHECO TIMES, Thursday, April 5, 2012 Formerly & Everywhere! RFD# to the gulf stream waters 3 to the New York Island by Lorrie Baird
SURPRISES AND LIFE CHANGES ON MY 65TH
by Lorrie Baird I woke up the morning
of my birthday to realize that half of my body really hurt and the other half wasn’t too happy either. I must have slept in the wrong position in addi- tion to the fact that at age 65 when certain body parts go south for the winter they don’t come back next spring. A half hour into my birthday it was business as usual; my body was awake and functioning well – just not as well as it used to. I look at it this way: I’m
not as young as I used to be, but I’ll never again be as young as I am today. Two of our very best
friends who winter in the Fort Myers area of Florida were coming to take me to lunch for my birthday which was really special because we hadn’t been able to get together the entire winter. Both of us were eagerly await- ing the arrival of Ken and Julie, two longtime New Hampshire friends. They arrived at noon. Five minutes into our happy reunion the doorbell rang again and I figured it was another one of our neighbors who had been stopping by all morn- ing to wish me a happy birthday. I opened the door to
a Publisher’s Clearing- house moment. Standing on the other
side were Bob and Judy, another set of New Hamp- shire friends who com- pletely surprised us by flying into Tampa that morning! Did you ever have one of those mo- ments that you knew what you were seeing but just could not – for the very life of you – believe what your eyes were tell-
ing you? I thought they were a mirage up until the moment I wrapped my arms around them. Then I shook with happi- ness for ten minutes…it was that kind of birthday surprise. It wasn’t the first time
we had to pick our chins up off our feet because Bob and Judy managed to pull off a surprise. Flash- back to the first fall of Jim’s retirement; we were leaving NH to head off in our RV to travel the coun- try. Bob and Judy invited the gang over for dinner and afterward announced that dessert would be served downstairs. That’s when we stepped from a September afternoon directly into Christmas morning. Judy and Bob had decorated every inch of their downstairs fam- ily room, complete with two Christmas trees! As if that wasn’t enough, they also had Christmas presents wrapped and ready under the tree for us and for Ken and Julie who were also leaving to winter in Florida. Two years ago - our first
Christmas in our new Florida home - a large package arrived from Judy and Bob. In it were all the Christmas items I gave to Judy because I couldn’t take them along with us in the RV: includ- ing my beloved three-foot Father Christmas decora- tive doll that I truly hated to part with. But this surprise? It topped the birthday cake. After a wonderful after-
noon of lunch at The Club and touring our commu- nity, we reluctantly said goodbye to our friends who were spending the week at Ken and Julie’s new winter home in Fort Myers. So we made ar-
BIRTHDAY We savored every min-
rangements to spend Wednesday afternoon with our old friends. If there’s a couple who’ve
perfected the retirement lifestyle it’s Ken and Ju- lie. After six years of win- ter RVing, they left their RV in New Hampshire and have settled into ca- nal-side winter home in a fun and fabulous retire- ment park in close to the Intracoastal Waterway, just across the bay from beautiful Fort Myers. We rekindled old times and made new memories over a wonderful lunch, a fun ride in Ken and Julie’s new boat and a tour of Old Bridge Park.
ute together because we all knew it would be many months before we will be able to meet again. If there’s one thing we
accept as we age it’s the inevitability of change which goes hand-in-hand with wonderful and en- chanting surprises such as my birthday visit, to knock-upside the head surprises such as sud- denly losing a job that you thought was secure. And that’s what hap- pened to Jim; he lost his New Hampshire camp- ground job and we will not be fiscally able to spend the summer in the Lakes Region which we
had planned to do for at least another five years. I’ve often said, “If you
want to make God laugh, tell him your plans,” but in this case nobody was laughing except me be- cause spending summers in Florida for my polar bear husband will likely prove just as challenging as winters in New Hamp- shire were for my tropical parrot personality. And I’m sure we’ll get more than a few chuckles along the way as we share yet another life-changing ad- venture together.
jim-lorrie@earthlink.net
15
T ANGEROUTLETS
APRIL 9-14
CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE CONTEST SATURDAY, APRIL 14 2PM
Come see 8 local finalists compete on stage to win one of two $500 Tanger Shopping Sprees for Best Style and Best Value. See the hottest looks of the season and learn how to create your own look – TangerStyle.
GET THE LOOK
Register at the Tanger Fashion Stage by 2pm for a chance to win the head-to-toe look that wins Best Style in the Create Your Own Style Contest.
FREE FRESHWATER CULTURED PEARLS The first 100 attendees to check in at the Tanger Fashion Stage between 1pm-2pm will receive a FREE strand of freshwater cultured pearls.
TANGER’S STILETTO SPRINT SATURDAY, APRIL 14 4PM
Grab your favorite pair of 2” plus pumps and race to the finish line
in Tanger’s Stiletto Sprint. Shoppers ages 15 and over are invited to race down the 100 yard track to win a $250 Tanger Shopping Spree.* *Contestants under the age of 18 must have parent present to register.
Get the scoop at
tangeroutlet.com PRESENTED BY:
TILTON, NH I-93, Left off Exit 20 in the Lakes Region (603) 286-7880
H e r From California... , T here...
e From the redwood forest...
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32