The Legacy of an Adopted Child - Part 3

December 1986.... a few weeks before Christmas, my husband and brother -in-law travelled to the Philippines to pick up the baby. Our friends and relatives commented that two guys will have to handle the baby and finalize the adoption process. I was 5 months pregnant and the doctor did not approve of me travelling at this stage. I stayed home and prepared the nursery and all the stuff we needed and all the things to be done as it was also very close to Christmas.
Both guys were so busy with the closing of the adoption process that a relative of my brother-in-law was hired to take care of the baby. I was told over the phone that it was a very active 18 month old baby. Two days before Christmas they got back with the baby. It was a joyous day and since we live in a small city, it seems everyone knew.

And yes, he was a very active baby. At one point, I did not know how to handle him. My father was most excited and he would come and visit and help. He would play with him and teach him how to say words in English. He used to watch Sesame Street and being in Canada there is French part in the show. He was interested in French that when it was time to go to Kindergarten, he would end up going to the French Immersion side of the Catholic school. At a very young age we noticed how he can pick up new things easily. He can assemble toys we would buy him but we noticed too that he got quite upset if he can't do it right the first time. At the age of six we enrolled him in karate to learn discipline and he was really good at it that when we left  North, he was getting close to getting his black belt.

Once we moved to Alberta, in a quiet suburb close to Edmonton he was enrolled in French immersion in a French school. We noticed too about his problem controlling his anger. But he did very well in school. 

Pondering about Retirement

When I turned 50, I used to think about being close to retirement or wondering if I would retire early. But as I got closer to 60, I wondered if I should retire early and now that I am very close to retirement age, I am scared to retire because I think and feel that I will be bored.

At work they had asked me if I will retire and I had told them that I believe I will continue to work. If my health will dictate that I need to stop working then I will retire.

I know people who retired and now they are back in the workforce. Most of them say they got bored. And some are so busy after they retired, they are harder to catch than a pokemon. 

I thought of things I can do but it does not interest me. Yes I can volunteer, travel or just take it easy. With what is happening in the world now, it is a bit scary to travel but I still have a list of places I want to visit. For now, I feel that I still like to go to work even though at times I feel like...oh it would be nice to be retired. But that only lasts for a few days.