The Joy of Retirement...I had no Idea: One woman's unexpected journey of accepting and realizing the great beauty and freedom of retirement.

Carol Marra Porto was raised in a small coal mining town in Central Pennsylvania, pop. 200. During her 17 years there she learned to swim in strip mining sulfur pools, balance walk railroad track rails, play baseball, ice skate and sled, explore the woods and creeks, not play with the bad kids and not miss Catholic mass no matter what. In high school she had a choice between math, science and language or typing, shorthand and bookkeeping. She elected the latter. There were 24 students in her graduating class. All the kids then either moved to Ohio, New Jersey or the DC area as there were no jobs at home. She began her career as a stenographer with the Federal government. One of the few goals she had in her life was to advance in the government pay steps as a steno and to marry at age 25. She ended up married at age 20 and by age 25 had three children. Travel adventures began as she married an Air Force Second Lieutenant due to deploy for pilot training. Prior to that, travel had only been with relatives for summer vacations in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and several towns in PA. In the next 20 years she lived in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Virginia and Maryland.She enjoyed a traditional military family culture. While her kids were in school, she took day classes at a local university and graduated with a BA in Psychology. When her kids were in college, she completed her MA in Psychology. She went from being a steno, to being a soccer mom to owning her own behavioral health treatment program. She retired at age 77 and then her retirement career began. She was so astonished by the joy retirement brought; she was moved to write a memoir. She wants others to know this phase of life can be the most fulfilling of them all.