Staying Alive

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman

When I last checked in with you we were waiting to move to California to be closer to our, now, 18-month granddaughter. I shared the wisdom I had gotten from a six-day silent retreat. As Paul Harvey used to say, “now for the rest of the story”.

I broke my silence at the retreat to interview for my dream retirement job – being an usher for the San Francisco Giants. Despite the fact my wife told me when I applied “they aren’t going to hire a 67-year old with two replacement hips,” they did. I accepted the offer of a part-time, minimum-wage job and the opportunity to commute from North Carolina to California to do it.  Another consequence of the good luck and timing of saving/investing over the years. 

I had been a bit lost and depressed since November. The election results and our inability to find a place to live in California had been getting me down. The new job, and the Howard Thurman quote above, inspired me to move towards what makes me come alive. I decided to start working on my long-planned memoir with baseball as its main theme. I fell in love with baseball (and Willie Mays) in 1965 when I was seven and my family was falling apart.  Perhaps it could help save me again when the country seems to be falling apart. 

I started writing during spring training and started the new job in April. It’s been a whirlwind. I’ve been interviewing baseball fanatics like myself. Current and former writers, announcers, players and fans – including members of the HumbleDollar community. (If you are one please let me know!) Baseball gives them and me joy – and joy always makes me come alive. The faith of taking a job without a place to live paid off – we are closing on a new house in two weeks and the cross-country move will begin when we sell our house in North Carolina.

We face many challenges as we age and prepare for, or enter into, retirement. HumbleDollar helps us with the financial challenges but just as important can be finding and/or remembering what makes us come alive. The twinkling in my granddaughter’s eyes as she remembers my face, the smiles of six-year and sixty-six year olds as they walk into the ballpark and the conversations with people I never dreamed I would meet to talk about the memories and heartbreaks of baseball give me joy these days. And I feel more alive. I know that’s what I need now, I hope and pray it is what the world needs now too.