i am from back east, Lake Michigan......do you recall what they called the snow storm that buried the midwest for over a week, I think they called it the "buffalo blizzard".........heck we were only seeing snow mobile tracks for a week......snow plows hit cars in the highway drifts...........snow came up to my 2nd floor balcony......omgosh.......I said .....enough already.....lol I was on my own from 17 yo, finished High school and Beauty School before that....woring full time in a salon before graduating.......looking back, I wonder how I did it......lol So sounds like we both know what work is...... I am retired also, doing ok with it, did you have a hard time adjusting? I did, the first year was soo hard not having someplace to go..........but that passed......i really enjoy not having to get up at 5am.......lol....now i just roll over and snooze if I want to.......if you know anon2077ATaolDOTcom and you can reach me privately...... I also came to realize the void in my life, missed having someone to spoil now and then, someone that would care about me.........then I saw a poster, "Happiness is loving someone that loves you back", that really hit home. I was born in Austria, moved back there after high school. lasted a whole 6 months, took the USS United States back to the US, and cried when I saw MS. LIBERTY......... I feel very blessed also, many times very surprised how things fell into place, I know where it all came from........and appreciate it very very much. Lived in Fla, Calif then AZ. Always knew I would end up here, just never knew how, then when I hit Calif, the first thought was ......opps, overshot my real destination...........then 6 mo later, here I was........"home". Love your gray hair, and your smile, just thought I'd mention it......hope to hear back from you..... My real name is Rosie,