Reminiscing in the Retirement Years!

The summer of ’75 was my most impactful season ever, beginning with a first date with Kathy, my future wife, on June 1st, when I instantly fell in love. Near the end of that summer, on August 23rd, my birthday, I asked her to marry me, and she said yes! Looking back, those three months were the most momentous and thrilling time I’ve ever known! She changed the trajectory of my life forever and has been the best, most reliable partner a guy could ever ask for!

And during this same season, some great music came out: “Sister Golden Hair” (America), “One of These Nights” (The Eagles), “Love Will Keep Us Together” (Captain & Tennille), and “Jive Talkin’” (The Bee Gees).

And who can ever forget the arrival of the movie “Jaws” on the big screen that summer? It was so terrifying for some that many people refused to go to the beach that entire summer, and some still carry that fear today! Then, Jimmy Hoffa went missing. A gallon of gas sold for 57 cents, a gallon of milk for $1.57, and a 1975 Ford Mustang II cost around $4,000! Good Lord!

Man, I love looking back, whether I’m right in thinking the old times were or weren’t better than today. And who even knows how accurate my memory is? But this is what I do in my coming-soon romance novel, Champagne Waves & Sailing Ships. I allow my characters to reminisce and share their reflections from this era with the reader, so that these might trigger precious, soothing past experiences and memories from my readers’ pasts.

What retiree doesn’t enjoy slipping into these magical moments of traveling back in time, if only to briefly escape the challenges brought on by aging?

“But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.” (Psalm 77:11-12 NLT)