This is all new to us, so it’s fun to look back and just compare our life recently to our life now. A few months ago I would have woke up Sunday morning and carried my laundry down to the laundry room first thing. Liana would make us coffee and we would plan our week. Flower, one of our very old cats would perch on Liana’s right shoulder and Megan, Flower’s mom would usually lay on Liana’s lap. Next was breakfast, always something wonderful! This is one of my few meals at home so it was the most enjoyable. The house would be filled with the smell of bacon and eggs frying and the smell of fresh brewed coffee.
Our dog Tink would bring us a chewed up old toy to toss across the room for her so she could live out her fantasy of being a retriever. After breakfast I would take Tink with me to fill up the car with gas while Liana did laundry. Then we’d head off to church – Rocky Mountain Calvary, and enjoy worship, listen to the sermon and maybe have lunch out. By early afternoon I would pack my car and head to work. Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota or any other of the thirteen states where I was a licensed insurance agent. By 11:00 pm I would fall into bed in some small country motel.
Platinum was a great place to work and, “If you will do for five years what others will not do, you will be able to do for the rest of your life what others cannot do.” That slogan kept me going for nearly seven years. And it was so true. But what did we trade. Six days a week on the road, every week in any kind of weather, working 7am to 11:00pm. I am not complaining, that was the sacrifice we knew we were committing to in order to go sailing. We learned to value our time together – half a day Friday, one full day together on Saturday and half a day Sunday. So here is the question. Was it worth it?
This morning I am sitting in the cockpit watching the sun come up. The sky is filled with cumulus clouds building over the Atlantic Ocean, forming a train of beautiful silver-lined puffs skidding across the sky. The water hitting the hull of Silhouette is mesmerizing. The boat is gently rocking on her anchor. The sun is lighting up the surface of the water and there is still a thumbnail of a crescent moon fading into the blue sky.
Liana just brought me coffee and a kiss. I have been with this woman on our boat every day for a month now and she is still bringing me coffee and a kiss every morning. We sleep wonderfully every night. We are both losing weight. I have lost 20 lbs so far. Liana won’t say, but we are both stronger and healthier than we have been since our 20’s & 30s.
I now have finger nails! This might sound like too much information but I haven’t had them in years. I used to catch myself chewing away my nails on the long drives to and from work, usually 6, 8, or many times 10 hour drives. But for the first time since I can remember I have full nice looking nails. My face is so tanned I barely recognize myself in the mirror. Liana is looking tanner and sexier than ever. Her gray hair is turning bleach blond in the sun. The moist sea breeze has made her hair curly again. Our feet have a zebra-stripe tan on them from our sandal straps.
My back does not hurt. I go to bed I get up and no pain. I have been plagued with constant back pain for more than 20 years. It was always there at some level always in the background. Helping me make life choices like – no, don’t pick up your grandson it will just make your back hurt more, or no, you can’t ride the roller coaster with Natalie you will just be in more pain. But today even though we are going thru storms and anchoring in high winds and moving our boat under bridges where the mast is nearly scraping the paint off of the bottom side of the bridge I have less stress.
So was it worth it? Was it worth being gone six days a week for years on end. Yes..We live in a land full of opportunity and anyone can achieve anything if they set their mind to it. Dream big, work hard everyday. The reward is even better than you can imagine.
Yes it was worth it. Some people never get this much freedom. I am in love with my wife and my new life. God bless America.
