Milt - Member of S.P.I.C.E and S.A.G.E

Milt was a former dentist, who moved from New York with his wife. He decided to retire because of a combined decision between finances and health. He retired in stages from working part time, then he worked for the army in Vietnam for two years, and then finally fully retired. Him and his wife decided to move down here to be closer to family and it wasn't a hard adjustment for him personally because he had already been retired for two years previously. But it was for his wife, she had just retired two days before they were suppose to move and that's two big lifestyle changes that took place back to back. Milt added that it did affect their relationship some because they were more reliant on each other when they first moved to Charlotte because they didn't know many people. Overall, it helped to enhance their relationship in the end.

Being retired, it allowed Milt to accomplish some incredible things in his new found free time. He ran the New York marathon, sailed in a race with a friend and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, which is 20,000 feet.

Milt helped in the creation of S.P.I.C.E as well and was one of the board members on the committee. He is also very involved in S.A.G.E and meets with the group every fourth Monday of the month. With being apart of the group for a long time, Milt has created and maintained many relationships throughout the years. He will  meet with other members of the group outside of meetings and they will attend functions together or have dinner. For example, they will go to the Blumenthal Theater, watch the symphony play or visit museums.

I asked Milt to give someone making a lifestyle change advice and his response was quite intriguing because it was very well thought out. He advised to not hold back on anything because it all could be done and there's finally time to do it, stay active and busy, make sure to have financial security and don't become consumed by fears.  After listening to what he had to say, I thought that really any lifestyle change can be difficult at first, but it doesn't mean it should hold you back. Just work through it, adapt to it and then let new opportunities appear. That's what elders should do when they begin transitioning because it shouldn't be something that prevents them from progressing.