Five Months Into My Second Chapter

When I last wrote here, it was my last day at work. I was standing in the doorway between the life I'd known and the one I was building next.

Well. I walked through the door.

Retirement officially began May 30, and let me tell you — the five months since have not been quiet. We moved back to Tennessee. We are combining two houses into one, which means boxes, decisions, and a daily lesson in what actually matters enough to keep. And in the middle of all of it, we welcomed a grandbaby girl. I am a Nana now, and that little girl has rearranged my heart in the best possible way.

This is the real version, like I promised you. Not the glossy one.

What two houses are teaching me

Combining two houses into one is downsizing whether you planned it that way or not. Two of everything. Years of "just in case." I am learning to ask a harder question than "is this useful?" — I'm asking, "does this belong in my next chapter?"

Someday, God willing, a version of that question decides what fits in a suitcase and a small home in Spain. So I'm practicing now, one box at a time. Some days it feels freeing. Some days I sit on the floor and get sentimental over things I can't explain. Both of those are true, and I'm done pretending only one of them counts as progress.

And now, the holidays

Here we are, suddenly getting ready for the holidays — my first holiday season fully retired. Slower, I hope. More family, less frantic. A grandbaby's first holiday season has a way of putting everything in its proper order.

Where Spain stands

Spain has not left the dream list. It's just growing up into a plan. We're planning an exploratory trip for the summer of 2028 — not a vacation, a test. Time on the ground. Real neighborhoods, real costs, real mornings. The kind of trip that tells you the truth about whether a place could be home.

Between now and then: paperwork, planning, saving, learning, and this newsletter — every Friday from here on. I don't have every answer yet. But I know this much, same as I knew it in May:

I am not done.
I am not invisible.
I am not too old to dream.
And I am Spain bound.

One question for you

If you had to combine two houses into one — or even just clear one honest closet — what is the thing you'd have the hardest time letting go of? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one, and your answers shape where this community goes next.

— Patty

P.S. New here? This is Spain Bound: My Second Chapter — for women over 60 who aren't done yet: retiring, downsizing, and dreaming my way to Spain, with faith at the center. Subscribe and come along.