Patrick
Kennedy
 

December
She Sits


She sits at her table day after day smearing colored water with an array of brushes and sponges on clean white paper. She lets the abstracts and a multitude of memories guide her strokes and swirls. She has an assortment of both so she will never run out of images. The skies are getting bluer, the birds are soaring and diving, and the pets on the ground are dodging the birds and the feet of humans.

She also has a thick book of photos she copies once in a while: friends and relatives; trips to the Grand Canyon, Caribbean, Alaska and Mexico. Magazines from the mail box have dozens of photos she can recreate; pictures of the people and homeless she has encountered just wheeling around town. She wheels because she mostly sits because of the bad legs she developed while a working lady waiting tables in a large restaurant, a mother chasing children, and a yard too big to let grow, but she has enough get up and go to hang some of her art pieces in a few coffee shops, and sells a few and gets a little spending money.

Many seniors similar to her find the past catching up with them while in or planning withdrawal from work. There are many issues that can and will dictate the direction one takes in the retirement (non-working-mostly) years. Health, of course is one of them; finances, geography, relatives, friends, and transportation are some of them. Many workers don’t consider these issues until maybe too late. The important thing is to quit work and do nothing, which is another negative if it is not addressed – from an eight-hour working bee to a twenty-four hour do nothing bee can be a hard transition if not planned. “You'll find boredom where there is the absence of a good idea,” said Earl Nightingale, the dean of Personal Development.

Everybody has their lists of ‘likes’ and ‘don’t likes’, and it is similar to that list you make when you are going to go shopping, so you won’t forget anything, the same should be done here … don’t forget anything. But remember, “The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists,” said H. Allen Smith, MD, PhD, and I guess he was saying to list is human.

I guess it all comes down to ‘to each his/her own’. Every situation and person has different dreams and wishes, therefore the roads to the future can be straight, crooked, forked, paved, or gravelly, or abstract and as mystifying as a watercolor painting. The idea is to get on it with a workable plan.

©2014, Patrick Kennedy

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Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life. - Nicolas Chamfort

Patrick M. Kennedy (P Manvel Kennedy) has been a professional writer, editor, and graphic artist for over 30 years. He is the author of three books: More Fun with Retirement: A coffee break for seniors, How to Have Fun with Retirement, and Being a Senior Citizen: You rnew phase of life with many questions looking for answers. and his latest book: More Fun with Retirement: A coffee break for seniors. He currently works from Boise, Idaho. In the past he has worked from Seattle, Indianapolis, and Las Vegas. He keeps busy because he knows it is important when writing or editing any material with a particular objective in mind, for either personal use or business goals, to present ideas with quality, clarity and accuracy. He can do that, and he does most of it himself, but he occasionally must call upon qualified associates for assistance.

"My Resume shows me as an experienced professional writer and editor who specializes in the English language. With years of professional experience in the writing/editing/graphics field, I offer quality services to both individual and business clients, with prompt and accurate solutions designed to meet their needs, and online editing services and writing services for easy and quick results. www.abetterword.com



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