I had just had cataract surgery and was waiting in the reception area for my husband, Mark, to pick me up. Even with a big patch on my left eye, I recognized a man from one of my aqua aerobics classes and said hello. I doubt that we had ever spoken to each other in class. I remembered his name was John and he was sitting with his wife, Jane. John was about to have cataract surgery.
As we chatted, I learned that they lived in Palm Springs for a good part of the year. When they retired, they asked each other what was missing in their lives. In other words, what had they always wanted to do in their lives and hadn’t. As a young man, John had wanted to be a ski bum and never had. Jane had wanted to be a tennis bum and hadn’t.
As retirees, John skis on his own in various West Coast states while Jane plays tennis to her heart’s content. Their marriage seems to benefit from the time spent apart. Each of them gets a lot of pleasure from fulfilling the dreams of their youth.
