Mike Taylor

Mike has been a member of Raintree Country Club for many years and has developed very close relationships while being there. He managed insurance branches for sea vessels for a very long time, but then him and his wife decided to start a printing business. There wasn't an exact time when he decided to retire, but eventually did because he had made a lucrative profit off the printing business that he would be financially able to do it. It was very easy adapting to not having a regular job, when it can be very hard for others because that one thing provided so much structure in their lives.

Ironically even after retiring, Mike decided to get a part time job to primarily stay active and he was hired by Harris Teeter. He works four times a week for approximately four hours each shift. His wife is also an accountant there for only two days a week. During his shift, he will bring in carts, bag groceries and do maintenance.  As I mentioned earlier in the paragraph, he is able to stay active because he is constantly standing or moving around and he can also socialize with customers.

Mike would play golf occasionally on the weekends with his wife and daughter, but that would be the only time. Finally after retiring, he was able to play three times a weeks. On the days when he does not golf, he will walk a few miles. He is consistently staying active to maintain his health and that's really important when it comes to getting older.

Mike shared a personal experience with me and it really brought to light what I'm trying to promote. He's father had dementia and it fell on his mother to take care of the father. His mother's purpose slowly turned only into caring for his father and that was it. Sometime later, the father passed away and his mother was then put into a retirement home. While taking care of his father, she had been consumed with caring for him that nothing else was as important, but when she was at the retirement home she was finally able to thrive again. The retirement home became her new home, they provided a place to stay, hot meals and people to have relationships with. She enjoy the "happy hour" that she received there, which was where all the residents got to socialize with each other. On weekends, his sister would take their mom out to lunch and go shopping together. Mike watched his mother come back to life again and be happy, not that she wasn't when the father was living. But she could finally focus on herself and her needs again.

With losing a loved one or being put into a retirement homes, some elders will withdraw into themselves and just wither away. But Mike's mom is a prime example that it can be possible to start over again and enjoy life.