Susan and her husband, Wayne, celebrate their first anniversary in Kauai.

I slid into retirement in November 2021 at age 58. I enjoyed my career as a Nurse Practitioner and did not see myself retiring until I was aged 68-70. After being widowed for almost 10 years, God gave me the most fantastic gift of another “love of my life.” Wayne and I married in July of 2021. Wayne was already retired, and that got me thinking about retirement. After a vacation where I was tied to a work phone due to being on call, I decided life was way too short to spend it stressed and disconnected from my new husband. I came home and put in my notice the next work day. I never looked back.

List of things about me:

  1. I was born in Alabama, where my dad was from. 
  2. My growing-up years were spent in the South, mainly in East Texas. 
  3. I have always saved 6% and given the church at least 10% of my income. 
  4. My parents taught me how to budget and save from the time I received my first allowance. 
  5. I have always been a night owl. 
  6. I met the first love of my life while working the night shift at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. 
  7. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Baylor University when I was 30 years old. 
  8. I only wanted to be a Nurse because it would provide me with a good income, but I fell in love with the profession and would have worked without pay. 
  9. I completed my Masters’s in Nursing 20 years after getting my Bachelor’s degree at age 50. 
  10. After graduating with my Masters’s in Nursing, I began working as a Nurse Practitioner in Hospice. 
  11. I always felt I could make a difference in many lives while caring for those dying and their families. 
  12. My only daughter and her husband have one cute, sweet, intelligent little girl.
  13. My only granddaughter is the first grandbaby and great-grandbaby on both sides of the family–no, she is not spoiled. 
  14. The second “love of my life” and I attended church together for over 20 years. 
  15. We began dating in mid-April and were married in mid-July. 
  16. We enjoy taking mission trips and vacations together.
  17. Our favorite vacations are beach vacations, where we collect shells.