Bob and Dorothy Lawson

Travels Trials and Tribulations after retirement

In 1988 I became eligible for a six month "pre-retirement Leave of Absence", as provided in the IBEW/CBS technician's contract. After thirty-six years working for the company the LofA sounded like a good idea. Having traveled through Europe several times before 1988 I decided that would be my destination. I intended to travel through-out Europe but realizing that was not practical or affordable I needed to settle on a location. For several reasons I chose Andorra. In October, 1988 we packed as many suitcases as the airline would allow and flew off to Europe. We picked up a new 1988 VW Jetta at the factory and headed for Andorra.

During an exploratory trip to Andorra we purchased a condo in the Arinsal Valley. When in Andorra you are either in the mountains or in the Valley. 

While living in Andorra we were visited by four of our, then, teen-age grandchildren. We made a drive to Paris and a good time was had by all.

When I returned to Columbia Square in April 1988, intending to return to work, I was greeted by a letter from the powers-to-be telling me they were willing to give me more money if I would leave than I would get if I stayed another couple years. It was an easy decision, I took their money and ran. Looking back, quitting work was the easiest thing I ever did.

When we made the move to Andorra it was intended to be temporary, we kept our home in Westlake Village. Not wanting to stay in one place I purchased a "2nd" home at Del Webb's Sun City West, west of Phoenix, AZ. We traveled back and forth every couple months until we became tired of maintaining two homes. We sold both and purchased a new one in Tucson, Arizona. We enjoyed Tucson, it is a nice city. We could only stand four summers of the heat then we found Santa Maria; A bit different climate than that of Tucson. We moved to Santa Maria and was certain that would be our final move, it wasn't. During 1999 I noticed my wife was having a problem with her memory. In a search for a place where we could best treat her on-set of Alzheimer's I moved to a unique campus called John Knox Village in Lee's Summit, Missouri, near Kansas City. It seemed a good move but after about 18 months I determined we were not getting the kind of help I had hoped for. We moved back to Santa Maria in October, 2002. Dorothy is now living at the Arbor View Alzheimer's Care Center and I am living in our home. I am certain we are in Santa Maria to stay. I am in good health, for an old man, thank god. Dorothy is receiving good care.  All-in-all life is OK.

As of July 21, 2003