Chance Experiences

“To have a great life, you have to be open to chance experiences."

I've come to believe that.

For nearly forty years, community happened automatically.

I went to work.

I had meetings.

I shared lunches with colleagues.

We solved problems together.

We celebrated promotions.

We comforted one another through disappointments and losses.

Then one day...

It all stopped.

No one really prepares you for the fact that retirement isn't just leaving a career. It's leaving your daily community. Suddenly, making new friends becomes intentional instead of automatic. I suspect almost everyone experiences this transition, yet very few people talk about it. And I believe it can shape the quality of retirement as much as our health or our finances.

Six years ago, my husband and I moved into our dream lake house in a beautiful retirement community. It looked like the life we had imagined.

But I wasn't retired yet.

I continued to work remotely, traveled back to the office several days each week, and gave very little thought to the community around me. My interactions were mostly limited to the grocery store and our three local restaurants—which, to be fair, include a Dairy Queen, a Subway, and a beloved little Tex-Mex restaurant that locals would never dream of calling "little."

Then, in January, I retired.

The first few months surprised me.

Surrounded by extraordinary beauty, I felt unexpectedly lonely. For nearly three months, I questioned everything. Had I made a mistake? Should we move somewhere with more activity, more restaurants, more people? I wondered what my purpose was now and whether I still had something meaningful to contribute. Slowly, I realized the problem wasn't where I lived. The problem was that I was waiting for community to find me.

It wasn't going to happen.

I had to build it.

I had to become the person who introduced herself first, accepted unexpected invitations, lingered a little longer in conversation, and remained open to the possibility that some of the best moments in this chapter of life would never appear on my calendar.

And that's exactly what began to happen.

This series, Chance Experiences, is a collection of those moments.

Some begin with a wrong turn.

Some begin with a stranger.

Some begin with a simple conversation.

Each one reminds me that the richest parts of retirement aren't always the ones we plan. Sometimes they're the ones we never saw coming.

So, if you're beginning this season of life—or even if you've been here for a while—I hope these stories encourage you to stay curious, say yes a little more often, and remain open to the beautiful possibility that your next great friendship, lesson, or adventure may begin with nothing more than a chance experience.

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See you on the deck,

Gay