Road in Retirement

    Disabled. In all my years of life, I never gave much thought to that word. I mean, I knew people who struggled physically but never envisioned it for myself. I saw how people interacted with the disabled, but I had no prescient as to that lifestyle being in my future.     My mind is filled with idea of being disabled because according to Social Security I am officially labeled as disabled. It was with mixed emotions that I received the verdict via a phone notification. The little communication tool brought me a communique that rattled my view of myself. On the one hand, it was good news  that I had been deemed disabled by Social Security. Yet it was bad news I heard that day as well. I had learned early on in this process that sixty-five percent of disability applicants are initially denied. Yet here I was, one of thirty-five percent. Whoopie! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.      I am thankful having the label and the monetary a...

    Quiet. I heard that word often exclaimed toward me when I was a child. The irony of hearing this word screamed in my direction, always seemed weird to me The old adage "Do as I say, not as I do" certainly rang true to me then. But the silence yearned for back then is a different kind of isolation sought after today.            Today my world revolves around solitude. Only in some ways the quiet around me seems almost forced. And it is kind of. I may be retired, but I'm not saying I longed to be. Had I not had physical challenges, retirement would be as far away from me as a North Dakota horizon. Despite the fact of my forced seclusion, I have to admit this solitary lifestyle is growing on me.     In my former life, I was a doer. If I saw a need, I did. One time a friend and I were in a good PD-class where we were learning about something in which we were interested in learning. She turned to me and expressed her desire...