Crows Feet Writing Prompt #74

Fresh Starts: Do They Ever Stop?

I didn’t anticipate doing new things as I age, but here I am

Standing on the deck of the vessel. Photo credit: Dave Gilbert, author’s husband

It’s strange to say, but I’m thinking about what my next fresh start will be. It seems odd to me because when I retired in 2021 at the age of sixty-three, I felt a new and final chapter was beginning. The one where I got old and looked after grandkids. Where paid work was no longer a thing in my life, and each day would unfold like a gift.

Some of that was true. I did have more time for grandchildren, and each day did arrive like the privilege it is. But while I imagined the possible decades spreading before me like a peaceful patchwork littered with visits to grandchildren and travels on the boat we call home, I did not envision doing something dramatically different and adventurous.

I should have known better.

In my late teens, my first fresh start as a young adult was to join up with a couple of dozen other young Canadians and participate in a youth exchange program. I took a train from my home in Toronto across the country to meet up with the strangers who would become my family for most of the next year.

On my return from travels that ranged far across the world, I went to college, another beginning.