What’s your dream retirement life for Athena and Bobby?
Our boy Bobby retires first after a lengthy discussion between them (bc they’ve been over this Tim):
He leaves Tuesday evenings free and all the fire kids who are still school age are treated to amazing snacks while they do their homework then play board games and build forts in the family room. Athena is appreciative for the small miracle that is every thing cleaned up by the time she’s home.
He joins an outreach ministry at his parish (I’m guessing possibly visiting folks in the hospital) and drives a caravan of other volunteers who can’t drive themselves any more.
Though Athena still loves to dress up and go out every once in a while, she’s more likely to request they stay home since Bobby has taken to rotating through different types of cuisines to try every month and she feels like his efforts are so elaborate, it’s like having a pretty skilled personal chef.
Athena does worry not so much about boredom but resentment since Bobby retires first but he assures her that just taking care of their errands, the house, their family and her is not only incredibly fulfilling but a dream.
It is an injury that does eventually inspire Athena to retire. She has to have surgery and finds that her recovery is slower than she’d like and actually she prefers being home with Bobby, the fire kids, and honestly her days are a lot fuller than she expected.
Her gardening becomes next level and all of their friends are envious of the many varieties of veggies, flowers and other plants she grows. She has a pretty good time making arrangements for the people Bobby visits in the hospital and the community she finds with other gardeners she meets at the local nurseries they visit.
They never set foot on a cruise again but they do travel. Athena refuses to brave snow no matter how much Bobby reassures her so when they do finally make their way to Minnesota, it’s in the summer. Athena still comments that she shouldn’t need a light jacket in the evening in June but it just makes Bobby laugh and she loves the way his face lights up sharing happy memories of his home.
After joining and quitting three book clubs, Athena huffs that she’d just have better luck with reading a list with Bobby who brightens at the idea. This leads to sweet evenings curled up reading passages to one another and discussing their current reads.
Athena starts to sew and Bobby has never smiled as big as he does when chimney asks him where he got his shirt and he says “Thena made it.”
When they both hit their late 60s, they take free senior college courses and when they take the same ones, they pretend not to know one another and have too much fun coming up with different stories of meeting and falling in love as strangers. A few fellow students catch on but just find it amusing and never say anything.
They have the BEST grandparent game and their grandkids adore being at their house as much as their parents allow.




















