Well, I've been retired since June, and although I had a definite idea on how it would all go (watching the grandchildren was priority #1), it seems like nothing goes quite the way you might envision it. During the summer, I was totally involved with the grandkids, each and every day. Then school started and I wake up every morning to get the grandkids ready for school, say goodbye to my daughter and son-in-law (he works as the network administrator for the local school district, so he takes his daughter to school), and then I take my grandson to his school. Back home to get the dogs fed, and to take them out. I know this must sound terribly exciting so far, but wait.
That's when I found out what having too much time on your hands can feel like. I'm still settling in, and haven't found a place to set up the drums yet (between my stuff and the kids stuff in the garage - they moved to this house in May - there is no place available out there, and I can't move anything more out to the garage to create more space inside. I did manage to make some space for my daughter to get her car into the garage before the winter weather hit, but I can't imagine making anymore headway for quite a while. For this reason, I have had to be content with playing my guitars.
Until recently. The kids had been looking for a church, and had settled into a non-denominational church with a very contemporary service. I thought it was fine, and even wondered if I might be able to be involved in the music somehow. Then my daughter and son-in-law had a discussion about a church that was right around the corner (ok, maybe 2 corners) from where we all live. They had 2 services, so we started attending the contemporary service. They had a drummer, but then he had joined the Marines, and a month ago he headed off to basic training. No other drummer stepped forward, so I casually mentioned that I was a drummer during a conversation that I had with the pastor. I was invited to a rehearsal last Wednesday night, and it went fairly well, even playing an unfamiliar kit.
Sunday was the big day, and I was playing behind a wall of plexiglass for the first time, so I could not gauge my volume, I could only feel the music and play what I thought felt right and trust the sound guy. Oh, and I should mention that my own family had never heard me play before, so there was that added pressure, too.
It turns out that my playing was a big hit, even the pastor told me that she had forgotten what it meant to have a good drummer player. To be called a "good drummer" was the nicest compliment that I could have gotten, and I had a number of other people stop and tell me the same thing . . . including my own family. So I'm finally playing again, and it looks like it will be a regular gig for me.
Yep, retirement hasn't quite gone the way I thought it would, but being able to be playing the drums has just made it soooo much better!
If you've had a new opportunity, let us know about it!
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