Accomplishing Goals: Part 4 (Family)

Allen Jacobs Memorial Prayer Breakfast

One of the blessings of retirement is being able to spend additional time with family. We have increased the contact with family members through phones calls, visits, and lots of grandchild activities.

We had three adult children. Our oldest son, Don, died in 2012. He was a critical care nurse at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN. He was only a few months from graduating with a master’s degree as an acute care nurse practioner from Vanderbilt University, He was 26 when he died.

Our second son, Allen, died in the line of duty as a police officer in Greenville, SC in 2016. He was 28 when he died. He was a decorated army veteran who was honorably discharged as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne after serving a tour of duty in Iraq.

Our youngest child, Catherine, lives in South Carolina. Over the last ten years she has lived in Kentucky, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Our son, Allen, had two boys and his wife was pregnant with his daughter when he died. Our three grandchildren live close to us which allows us to see them often.

During the school year we try to see our grandchildren at least once a week. We try to pick them up from school, take them out for ice cream, eat supper with them, play games with them, play pickleball with them, and have them spend the night whenever we can.

Tammie’s mom lives in Texas and my mom lives in Michigan. Both of our fathers have passed. In the last few years, we have increased our trips to Michigan and Texas to spend time with our moms. In addition, we talk to them on the phone at least once a week.