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The most significant change(s) in my life over the past five years:
# Response Date Comment
1. Sat, 4/14/07 8:56 PM In 2001, after living in a seaside community in Rhode Island for 35 years, we moved to Cambridge, MA. A drastic lifestyle change, and we love it. Such a vibrant, liberal and energetic city! I have a successful Bed and Breakfast in our home. Never would I have dreamed that I would be doing this. Boy, talk about meeting interesting people!!
2. Mon, 4/16/07 3:31 PM Grandchildren.
3. Mon, 4/16/07 7:29 PM Retirement and focusing on what I want to do with the rest of my life, and getting started on doing it. Not feeling pressured and stressed and constantly not having enough time.
4. Mon, 4/16/07 11:55 PM retiring
5. Tue, 4/17/07 12:36 AM Not as active in business.
6. Tue, 4/17/07 12:39 AM Stricken with gran mal seizures for 16 hours and an apparent stroke (partially paralyzed for 12hours) in early 2004. Kept unconscious for four days and my wife was told that the mortality rate for my condition was 95%! Now seem to be fully recovered, due to world-class medical care, strong genes and the prayers and non-traditional healing efforts of hundreds of people. I am a walking, talking miracle, and extremely grateful.
7. Tue, 4/17/07 12:52 AM Arrival of grandchildren Death of spouse
8. Tue, 4/17/07 1:04 AM Retirement - recognizing that it was much more enjoyable than I expected and that it did not reduce my work load at all!
9. Tue, 4/17/07 1:10 AM Relocation to South Carolina
10. Tue, 4/17/07 2:55 AM retirement and the chance for more personal development (learning to sketch, for example)
11. Tue, 4/17/07 3:33 AM Have become more aggressive in exercise to combat COPD, Have understood the value of each day and the ability to make it useful, Have had more patience with myself and others and therefore happier and more positive in outlook
12. Tue, 4/17/07 11:21 AM Taking up serious bicycle riding
13. Tue, 4/17/07 4:03 PM [1] A closer relationship with God, by more fully understanding and submitting to His plan for my life. [2] Eliminating fast foods, most processed foods and dairy products from my diet; and using my Total Gym on a daily basis, to cope with and reverse the effects of diabetes.
14. Tue, 4/17/07 6:13 PM Dealing with cancer, friendship renewals.
15. Tue, 4/17/07 6:23 PM Not having to work or raise a family - just have time to sit back and enjoy nature in my back yard
16. Tue, 4/17/07 9:22 PM a divorce in older years; the onset of a chronic illness which interferes with an active life
17. Tue, 4/17/07 10:47 PM Selling my business Changing gears and consulting First grandchild
18. Wed, 4/18/07 1:46 AM I love being a grammy to my 8 grandchildren (7 grandsons and one princess) Who knew what a rich extraordinary gift are grandkids? Because I teach 7th and 8th graders, I especially adore my grandkids as they rush headlong into adolescence. The grandkids all love to hear stories about my students, and I tell those stories as parables to help them with problems in their own lives.
19. Wed, 4/18/07 11:13 AM dealing with losses that seemed to pile up, one on top of the other over a period of two years - a parent, many church friends, my dog, and the minister of my church
20. Wed, 4/18/07 2:03 PM I've experienced the loss of several friends. I am planning to retire in June and I have some ambivalence about that. Caring for my Mother in a nursing home is exhausting.I am anxious that my son, who has a major mental illness, will relapse. I am now married to my partner of 18 years and it is a woman.
21. Wed, 4/18/07 5:44 PM Three additional grandchildren in the family
22. Wed, 4/18/07 9:54 PM End of major community agency volunteer activity due to political changes and putting home of 28 years on market
23. Thu, 4/19/07 12:26 AM Not much new. Still Active at almost everything. I have been travelling more and lecturing more ( 285 places.)
24. Thu, 4/19/07 7:45 PM Retirement allowing me TIME - the most precious thing in life
25. Fri, 4/20/07 3:01 PM Retirement
26. Sat, 4/21/07 2:55 AM Going from working full-time to being Laid Off due to merger with Canadian branch to deciding to Retire !!
27. Sun, 4/22/07 7:44 PM gaining tenure (and hopefully promotion this year) and learning to play the recorder (four of them) and learning to scuba dive
28. Wed, 4/25/07 7:48 PM Having a grandchild Having prostate cancer surgery
29. Wed, 4/25/07 7:48 PM Retirement with the first love of my life in an antique house. Life on an island five miles off the coast of Maine.
30. Thu, 4/26/07 10:11 PM Retiring from a lifetime of office work.
31. Sat, 4/28/07 12:01 AM living as a single, moving to a new town, looking for work
32. Sat, 4/28/07 3:23 PM Being able to participate with my youngest son's growing family has brought great rewards and love.
33. Thu, 5/3/07 6:39 PM Diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer and the constraints put on my activity by the treatment required
34. Fri, 5/4/07 7:30 PM Move from country to town
35. Sun, 5/6/07 6:33 AM My husband's retirement allows us to travel.
36. Sun, 5/6/07 10:05 AM My wife involved with a DWI and fatality
37. Sun, 5/6/07 11:01 AM new home(fire in 2003 destroyed our old home);job changes
38. Sun, 5/6/07 11:23 AM Being sued by the SEC
39. Sun, 5/6/07 12:02 PM The most significant change in my life occurred on 7th August 1996, my second birthday, when I joined Alcoholics Anonymous and ended 40 years of drinking, each year more. I'm the proud grandparent of three wonderful kids, born in August 1999, August 2001 and May 2007. In mid-2001 I moved from Rio de Janeiro, where I lived for 29 years, to São Paulo, Brazil. In March 2002 I became a suscriber to the concerts of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in the acoustically fantastic Sala São Paulo. Today I attend all the 130 concerts given there each year. In April 2004 I met Chisleine Abreu, a Brazilian psychiatrist, with whom I have e serious long term relationship.
40. Sun, 5/6/07 12:39 PM Recovering from breast cancer
41. Sun, 5/6/07 1:38 PM Retirement- time to do many things I didn't have time for before.
42. Sun, 5/6/07 2:03 PM Retirement with some consulting; moving to be closer geographically to our sons
43. Sun, 5/6/07 2:09 PM Retirement from during clinical research and traveling in the course of that work.
44. Sun, 5/6/07 2:33 PM Moving from full time employed to full time retired. Now serving as a full time teacher in a Christian School.
45. Sun, 5/6/07 2:53 PM Becoming more politically active
46. Sun, 5/6/07 3:10 PM Becoming a member of AA in l977 and staying sober!!!!!!!!!!!
47. Sun, 5/6/07 3:11 PM stopping the responsibility of the practice of medicine
48. Sun, 5/6/07 3:39 PM Slowly getting older.
49. Sun, 5/6/07 4:38 PM Adjustment to retirement mode and the many and varied opportunities it has offered.
50. Sun, 5/6/07 5:03 PM youngest child entering medical school - downsizing and moving - building a home in N.C.
51. Sun, 5/6/07 5:20 PM Most signifcant change since 1992 was leaving the Corporate world, moving from New Jersey to Cape Cod and starting our own business.
52. Sun, 5/6/07 5:21 PM Retirement from my main career - surprised that there is less free time than when I was working!!
53. Sun, 5/6/07 5:23 PM Retirement. Moving. Upcoming marriage. Living with Stage IV Breast Cancer, now in remission.
54. Sun, 5/6/07 7:11 PM Health-orthopedic
55. Sun, 5/6/07 7:33 PM Retirement
56. Sun, 5/6/07 8:50 PM Two wonderful grandchildren who lived with us for the first three years of their lives and then sailed away with their parents to distant shores. A great deal of travel to faraway lands to see them!
57. Sun, 5/6/07 9:14 PM My nephew joined the business and is a great help.
58. Sun, 5/6/07 10:47 PM Having two more grandchildren
59. Sun, 5/6/07 11:12 PM not working
60. Sun, 5/6/07 11:15 PM Writing a book and finding a publisher for it.
61. Sun, 5/6/07 11:48 PM THE BIRTHS OF BOTH OUR GRANDCHILDREN
62. Mon, 5/7/07 1:22 AM my husband's battle with heart problems, extensive surgery and endocarditis
63. Mon, 5/7/07 1:22 AM Learning how to run a business
64. Mon, 5/7/07 2:24 AM Retirement. I'm glad to stop teaching and happy to be in community service/leaderhship, but want to get out of that too. I want to have a period when I can do what I want for I'm still too busy. ALso, being elected to public office in my community has been a "trip" It's creative, challenging, interesting, constructive and demanding.
65. Mon, 5/7/07 2:32 AM Got divorced
66. Mon, 5/7/07 3:08 AM being mayor of my town. having 2 strokes and fully recovering from them. establishing 2 sister cities, one in germany and the other in el salvador.
67. Mon, 5/7/07 2:59 PM Total retirement which led to helping care for my mother and my mother-in-law, who have since died at the ages od 101 and 93. This has allowed me to focus more time and attention to the grand children.
68. Mon, 5/7/07 4:36 PM loss of my Mother and my older sister; retirment (which I love)
69. Mon, 5/7/07 5:38 PM retirement
70. Mon, 5/7/07 6:34 PM Publishing my first book. Having the second, third and fourth grandchild!
71. Mon, 5/7/07 11:14 PM Getting physically weaker
72. Mon, 5/7/07 11:14 PM Having my oldest daughter move in with us and caring for her after a stroke.
73. Tue, 5/8/07 1:40 AM Retirement, leading diving trips to Fiji. Serving on four non-profit boards. My beloved cat died of cancer.
74. Tue, 5/8/07 2:12 AM Assisting my sister in her illness.
75. Tue, 5/8/07 2:34 AM Retiring and moving to Cape Cod to be nearer grandchildren.
76. Tue, 5/8/07 3:32 AM Downsizing! Moving from a 2700 sq. ft. house into 1600 sq.ft. has made it necessary to pare down books, exercise equipment, filing cabinets, furniture, decorative items, and much more. We still have half a garage full of stuff that has to go after three years! it's crazy-making.
77. Tue, 5/8/07 2:27 PM Arrival of my grandchildren Relaxation of retirement
78. Tue, 5/8/07 9:08 PM The birth of my grandson.
79. Wed, 5/9/07 1:03 AM evolving notions of spirituality
80. Wed, 5/9/07 6:31 PM Semi-retirement from teaching.
81. Wed, 5/9/07 11:10 PM Moving to Florida and being a member of St Boniface Episcopal Church.
82. Thu, 5/10/07 3:09 PM I retired from major occupation.
83. Thu, 5/10/07 9:21 PM Coping with a cronic illness.Looking for a chair I can get out of when I enter a room. Most significant was the transformation I had while doing a church service as a lay person. God took away my anger and gave me peace and patience.
84. Fri, 5/11/07 2:07 PM Divorce in 2000 and re-marraige in 2003
85. Fri, 5/11/07 4:30 PM Coping with my husbands handicaps and decline as a primary 24/7 caregiver while maintaining my own consulting business and travel/personal interests.
86. Sat, 5/12/07 3:50 PM Five years ago I walked across most of northern Spain on the pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela (the camino). Anyone familiar with this pilgrimage knows that it is a life-changing experience.
87. Mon, 5/14/07 1:28 AM Taking time to do more exploring of the wider world with my wife.
88. Mon, 5/14/07 9:30 PM Tapering off of child rearing.
89. Tue, 5/15/07 10:34 PM Most significant iwas the birth of my granddaughter. I had a knee replacement with complications and had 4 surgeries on that knee in one year. It was the most difficult time of my life and my granddaughter and a lot of prayer got me through it.
90. Thu, 5/17/07 5:12 PM retirement
91. Fri, 5/18/07 2:12 PM Cancer recovery
92. Sun, 5/20/07 3:54 AM my husband retiring
93. Wed, 5/23/07 7:18 PM grandchildren
94. Wed, 5/23/07 7:45 PM Moved to an age restricted community.
95. Wed, 5/23/07 8:34 PM Retirement. Death of both parents.
96. Wed, 5/23/07 8:50 PM Realizing I am aging and dealing with health issues...cataracts, bad discs, aches and pains
97. Wed, 5/23/07 9:30 PM Retirement, and the discovery that all the things I thought I wanted to do when I retire -- I really don't!
98. Wed, 5/23/07 9:32 PM Having Breast Cancer as well as spending 5 months nurturing my daughter througha difficult pregnancy and being rewarded by our Million Dollar Baby born two month premature but now a happy, very fast, very smart little toddler.
99. Thu, 5/24/07 12:41 PM Major move
100. Fri, 5/25/07 1:52 AM Two of 3 children married and 2 Grandchildren
101. Fri, 5/25/07 3:49 AM Marriage of youngest son and birth of their son
102. Fri, 5/25/07 3:42 PM The death of our second daughter just prior to my planned retirement.
103. Fri, 5/25/07 9:49 PM becoming a grandfather