September - the year is flying by!

Here is the link to his obit.
http://www.ralphrobinsonandson.com/obituaries/Richardson-Perdue/

Samantha and Charlie have settled down now that I'm at home on my usual schedule.

The minister is coming over today to talk about his service and the music. The funeral home has buried everyone in their family and knows the family well so that made it easier. I got all the pictures printed yesterday and just need to get them on poster board. I picked up the poster board and other supplies yesterday so I'll get Mary-Milam to help me with that today.

Thanks Charlotte for the link. Richard had a wonderful life and was very fortunate to have met and married you. You were a good wife and I know you will miss him. I love that he and all his children shared the same middle name.

We just took 100 pictures to the funeral home and they made a video with music for the visitation and it gave us all a lot of peace watching the moments of Cameron's life being played out before our eyes. Everyone was like remember when...

Got to run to the park in a minute and meet a repairman. TTYL!!!

Looked through all the pictures and I just love the one where you are wearing a red coat. You look so pretty.
I know you will be busy the rest of this week, know we love you and you are in our prayers.

I looked through the pictures too and they are just great. I loved your wedding photo!

Hope Jeff and Christi arrive safely. Take care and know we are there with you in spirit and love.

The pictures are so nice Charlotte....... Which puppy is Richard holding? He and his brothers looked a lot alike. Hoping Jeff and Kristi have a good flight.

(((Charlotte))) You are in my prayers today!!! Love you dearly!!!

Many prayers and love to you today Charlotte, God's best blessings for you all

Thank you all! Things could not have gone better yesterday. Richard would have been very pleased with his service. The ladies at the church prepared lunch for the family so we had an opportunity to visit before the service . Lots of Richard's old friends came. We had a really good turnout for visitation and the memorial service. Ironically a lot of his old friends are also old friends of mine. Although we didn't meet until 3 years before we got married. The minister did a really nice job. They did bring Richard's brother. They had him in the visitation area but took him in the cry room for the service.

Kristi flys back around noon tomorrow. Jeff is flying to Germany from here. I'm not sure if he leaves Sat or Sun. He was working on his travel plans last night about the time I went to bed. Blows my mind that they don't make reservations until the day or so before he flies somewhere. He said his companies buys a block of air travel at a negotiated rate and they always have flights they can get them on.

Sounds like a wonderful tribute to Richard, so glad you got to see old friends. Enjoy your visit with the " kids " while they are there.

I'm so glad that everything went well yesterday and you were able to receive comfort from your friends!!! Was Richard's brother able to understand that he had passed? I know it was wonderful seeing Jeff & Kristi!!

I went for my annual mammogram today and they did 3D shots. How amazing is that!!!

It's a couple weeks until Joann's birthday so Ashley & I met up at the cemetery and put out flowers then I went to get my flu shot.

We got our flu shots a couple of weeks ago. I can see clear again, well from one eye anyway!
The procedure was very simple for me, I just sat in a chair and looked when she told me to look!
I do have some black floaters and I keep swatting at them thinking it is a bug, but they told me to expect that, now I won't be scared for next week !

I'm not sure exactly what Richard's brother understood. He knew me and was trying to tell me he had been trying to call me and couldn't. Not sure what he was talking about. I think he had something confused. He is at the point he talks very little and can't long sentences together.

Jeff and Kristi are still here. Jeff spent most of the day working. He had lots of phone meetings. I took Kristi to see my booths and we went out to dinner tonight. Kristi flies home tomorrow. Jeff will be here until Sun.

Well, I know everyone has probably been busy over the weekend. Charlotte, I'm sure you enjoyed Kristi and Jeff's company over the weekend, even though Kristi had to go home Saturday. So glad the service was nice and you saw lots of friends. I'm sure you have lots to do even now to tie things up. Hope you are doing well.

Sandra, I'm glad you got your procedure done and can see well again. Do they do anything for the floaters now? I've got to schedule my cataract surgery before they fill up after Christmas. Reading your post just reminded me to call my eye doc this week about it.

We were at the Alabama-Tennessee game. It is the big weekend we spend with friends, whether it is at Tuscaloosa or Knoxville. Lots of fun and food, food, food but it's always good to get home. I guess everyone has had rain or like us are getting it today.

Mackenzie played in a soccer tournament in Memphis this weekend. They won their age bracket again, so it was a happy day, despite being soaking wet and cold yesterday. They beat a team from Oklahoma on Saturday that was predicted to win the tournament and then beat the Arkansas state champs yesterday in penalty kicks (my Mack kicked the first one!) for the win. So proud of these young women! The win made all the wet and cold worth it. Going into state playoffs next weekend.

Sandra I'm glad everything went well and you can see again.

Yeah for Mackenzie!!

Jeff is actually still here. He leaves late this afternoon. He had to be in Germany for work on Tues so he was staying until Sun and flying from here to Germany. Late Saturday after Kristi had already left he got word that his meeting would probably be delayed. His boss said he would let him know definitely early Sun morning. It was delayed and then he had to find flight back home. Earliest he could get was this afternoon. His boss told him he would send him to Atlanta to meet with someone briefly and then the company would fly him home. But Jeff didn't want to fly to Atlanta for a made up meeting. He had flown here on frequent flyer miles and was able to get another flight with his miles. His boss told him not to schedule anything this week as he will probably sending him to Germany later this week. They seem to do everything at the last minute! That would drive me crazy.

We ended up driving over to Memphis yesterday and going to Graceland. Jeff said Graceland was one of the things on his bucket list that he wanted to see and Kristi had no desire to go. It rained all day but we enjoyed the day. We didn't do anything but eat lunch at BB King's so he could see Beale Street and then go to Graceland. He is just going to be working from here today until time to leave for his flight home.

Yes I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up and I've really gotten behind with my antique booths. Christmas merchandise has been coming in and I've just been stacking it in my garage. Our Christmas open house at one mall is Nov 9 so I've got to get busy. I have been wanting to expand to a bigger space at the new mall and that just all fell into place in the middle of all this. I plan to eventually (probably after Christmas) give up some space in the original mall I was in. I'm doing well in the new mall. It has a totally different clientele and I can sell more expensive things in it than I can in the other mall. I will be moving into my bigger space at the new mall on Nov 2.

Sounds like you have a lot of things to keep you busy, Charlotte. I agree with you about last minute scheduling, I couldn't deal with that either. I guess he is used to it.

Elaine, they didn't do anything for the permanent one I have. I am still seeing some little black ones, but they are different from the one I have had since before the surgery. It doesn't bother me in the house, but out in the sun it does.

Way to go for Mac, is there any reason they call a soccer game ? When Charity and Faith were little we sat in sleet watching them play, and that was crazy !!!

Sandra, yes, they will call a game if it is lightning within 10 miles (I think that is right - may not have the distance right). Then they have to wait 30 more minutes to resume the game. Could be a very long wait to resume, so sometimes they just call it all together. I think the lightning rule is very similar to football. But if it is just rain, they play on. I think my DD & the other parents suffered more than the kids because they are just sitting.

Charlotte, it sounds like you will be very busy from now thru Christmas, plus what all you will have to do to close out Richard's estate. I'm sure you all have planned ahead on all that so maybe that won't take so much time. Glad you and Jeff got to go to Graceland, so you know what kind of weather was going on in Memphis! It would drive me crazy too with all those last minute flight changes. I like to have mine nailed down.

Charlotte, glad to hear that you were pleased with the service and that you got to visit family and friends.... and glad to hear that Jeff got to stay a little longer than expected. I know you have lots to keep you busy and that will help in the coming days. Maybe Richard's brother meant he had been trying to call to extend his condolences or just discuss Richard's illness or passing with you. I hope he was able to understand what was going on. Jessica wants to go to Graceland too..... so far, we haven't made it, but eventually I am going to have to take the time to take her up there!

Elaine, great news on Mack and her team! Sounds like they have a really good one! Glad to hear you have been getting some rain as well. Sounds like ya'll had fun at the game with friends!

Sandra, so glad to hear the procedure went well and that you can see clearly - well at least half clearly. :) Hope they get the other eye fixed up and your vision is much improved. I have GOT to get an appointment scheduled to have my eyes checked......

Kyle and Maddie drove to Garland, Tx on Thursday evening after work to load up all the stuff they had at Maddie's parents - which was the majority of the stuff from their apartment at college plus several things from the wedding showers that they had not had room for at the college apartment. We ended up having to make a run to LR to deal with yet another problem with Alex's roof (Alex got home on Thursday evening from Lexington) and so we got home only minutes before Kyle and Maddie arrived from Garland on Friday evening. It was just barely misting rain, so after we ate, we had to unload a few things that would be staying at our house, and then load a few things they had there. We got all the furniture loaded that we had to put in the trailer and suburban, and then Kyle and Maddie finished loading all the clothes and small items the next morning while I fixed breakfast. Kyle, Maddie and I were up until 1 visiting! Probably not the best thing to do before moving them in the next day, but we sure had a nice visit. Thankfully the heavy rain held off until we got their things unloaded and then we spent the afternoon unboxing and putting away all the kitchen items. Then Jess came to LR after the OBU football game, and we all went out to eat supper to celebrate Jessica's acceptance into Pharmacy school at UAMS and Maddie's acceptance into PA school. We got home about 11. Not sure how much rain we have received over the past few days... I would guess around 4" but I know my trees and plants were thankful to FINALLY get some rain. The first real rain we have had since July when the plants thought they were drowning. We had a couple of days of very light mist in August - but not enough to settle the dust. My plant has employees that have to go to our hydro facility near Dumas on a regular basis and last week they were trying to get a boat into the Arkansas river to do some soundings and they couldn't even launch the boat because the water was too low!! That is the first time I have ever heard of that. We have a pond here that was COMPLETELY dry for the first time in the 18 years that I have worked here. I have seen it with dry spots in it - but never bone dry. It was so dry the guys were MOWING across it. :(

It was so good to see Alex - but apparently we won't be seeing him much this month. He has to do an acting internship and he will only have 2 days off the entire month! He starts today.....

Hope everyone has a great day!
Genna

Genna, remind me again where Maddie will be at PA school? I'm too lazy to go back up to the thread where you said she was accepted and I have lost track. Was it also at UAMS? I am probably confused about where they have been but I thought they were living in Texas and Kyle was working as a scribe. When does she start in the PA program?

Sandra I'm glad that things went well with your procedure and hope the black floaters don't stay too long.

Congrats to Mac and her team!!!

Seems like we have had feast or famine with the rain. We got over 10" rain yesterday and it was so fast that it has mostly run off and really done very little toward our drought situation. I think we must have gotten enough to lift our burn ban.

I've got to get busy with moving plants. I think I'm just gonna move my plumerias and hoyas. Everything else should be find where it sits.

We have had a good rain. A good steady slow rain. The kind that soaks in the ground.

I need to finish taking plants in. I also need to dig up my caladium bulbs. I have really cut back on the tropicals I over winter and I think I'm going to cut back even more this year. I have a couple of lemon trees I'm just going to put in a protected spot in the L of the house. If they make it fine. If not fine. For the last 2 years I've had tons of blooms on them but for some reason I only ended up with a couple of lemons. I don't think I have enough sun for them. I did buy some nice house plants I used in my pots on the pergola this year and I'm going to try and save some of them to use at least one more year.

Jeff's company is based in Israel. His boss lives in Israel. They just do things different than we do here. He has worked across international lines for a long time so I guess he gotten used to the differences in culture and ways of doing things.

I think Justin may have found his niche. He is majoring in Economics. While Jeff was here he got a text from Justin saying he was thinking about taking this class. Justin downplays everything! Well attached was a letter inviting him to an invitation only economics class. The letter cited all these reasons he had been invited....grades, participation, etc, etc. His economics class is graded totally on a curve and he is at the top of the curve. They actually consider everyone a pre-major until they make the cut. You have to have a certain grade point in order to be accepted as a actual Economics major. Not everyone that makes the cut to be a economics major is invited to the class that Justin is going to take.

Elaine, they are living in Little Rock. Kyle did start out working as a scribe for cardiologists - but now he is working as an opthalmalgic (sp) tech. They offered him $ 4 more per hour, plus there he gets hands on interaction with all the patients instead of sitting in a room all day by himself. He loves it - he hated sitting in a room all day with no interaction with anyone! Maddie is working as a scribe for an allergist, but she gets some hands on interaction and at least gets to be in the room with the patients. She has been accepted to PA school at UAMS, and she gave up her interview to Harding because it is about an hour from LR so once she was accepted there, there was no point to interview at a school where she would have to drive. She interviewed in Galveston on Oct 19, and she has an interview coming up in Birmingham at UAB but I am not sure about the date! If she gets accepted into all 3, they would chose Birmingham I am sure because of the dental school being in the same campus. We will just have to wait and see how it all works out - at least we know she has one option. Originally the plan was for,hopefully, both Maddie to be accepted into PA school and Kyle to be accepted into Med school at the same place for starting in August 2016. Now, even if he gets in to med school he isn't sure that is the route he is going to take. He is leaning heavily toward dental school......so they will have some more decisions to make once they know where all she is accepted AND he decides for certain what he is going to do. If he opts to do dental, it is too late to apply for 2016, so it would be 2017 before he could start.

There are some definite advantages for them staying in LR IF he opts to go to dental school because he could continue to keep the good full time job that he has while Maddie goes thru the first year of school. But, if she got in at Birmingham, and because the dental school is on the same campus, I feel pretty certain they would chose it and he would just have to try to locate another job down there.

No TELLING where Alex will end up - he has NO say so in the matter (other than listing his choices) as it is all done by the computer. They really liked him in Lexington, and he got to the point where he had done so many of the procedures over and over well, that they asked him to start teaching the students rotating thru the ER from the med school there the procedures instead of doing them himself. He really did well there and they were extremely impressed by his knowledge and skill level so I feel fairly certain they will request him on the match. But, even that doesn't mean that he will be going to Lexington unless he lists them as his first choice and I think they have to list him as their first choice - not really sure as it is all done by a computer system. Needless to say, Jessica is going to be pretty bummed out to be in LR and the boys end up somewhere else. :( But, that is a definite possibility. My concern is that one will end up in Galveston and one in Lexington - so we will be driving opposite directions! :) I am thinking at least if they are in Birmingham, we might be able to do a huge triangle! LOL

Jeri, sorry to hear that you got so much rain all at once! I was really worried about that happening here - and it did start out pretty hard, but then it eased up and since then it has been raining fairly steady but not hard, or sprinkling, ever since Thursday night late. It is just a mist really today, but still very cloudy. It has been a nice soaking rain and the plants have been so thankful - you can almost physically see them responding to it. It has been since the end of July that we really had a decent rain that amounted to anything. All the creeks, ponds, and even most of the rivers and lakes were almost empty! :(

Is Ashley still continuing to improve? How is Mary doing?

Sandra, have they said anything about Jerry possibly returning to work? Or are they expecting him to stay off several more months? I hope that you were able to check with someone about him receiving compensation for the permanent loss of the use of that hand (or at least a big portion of it).

Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Charlotte, eventually we all hope the kids/grandkids find their niche, so I know you're happy to hear this about Justin. Some just know what they want to do early in life and some don't decide until they get a few courses under their belt in college. I was surprised when Mack started talking about future plans a few weeks ago. Nothing definite of course, but it just woke me up to how soon all this will happen I guess. And Parker (junior in HS) has been taking all these engineering courses in HS so we know where he's headed. And his sister Gracie (freshman) is going the medical route and there is a program she goes to for part of the day that concentrates on that. So many opportunities for concentration in something of interest these days.

We are getting rain like that too. So glad!

Charlotte, we cross posted - that is great news for Justin! Sounds like he has definitely found his niche and is excelling at it.

Clint also knows what he is doing. He is majoring in environmental science and doing very well with it. Justin is extremely good with math and science but he has no interest in engineering. He has decided he is going to find a part time job and has applied for several jobs as a financial analyst and other similar things. Kristi said he needs to be able to make a good living because he likes to go to nice places and do lots of things. He is also the kid that everything seems to fall in place for and he's always so matter of fact about it. I think that's why he's decided to get the part time job. His girl friend goes to college in Iowa (she's going to be a physical therapist) but when she is home he likes taking her to nice places and he also thinks he needs to be saving some money. Jake is graduating in Dec but doesn't have a job yet.

Genna, we cross-posted. Thanks for setting me straight. I do hope your kids end up being fairly close together. Of course they may end up back together when they all get out of school but for a few years it may not be that way. I'll keep my fingers crossed for UAB!! My dentist went to UAB dental school and of course our boys and DILs went there so I know it's a good school for anything medical/dental.

The environmental science is a really big field currently..... we have several environmental people employed for AECC - and I only see that number increasing! The financial planning/stock broker etc is a great field as well. So many people don't have ANY idea how to handle money so when they do finally start making some they need advice from someone!
One of the young men in Kyle's wedding is a financial planner/broker for fidelity in Dallas and he loves it. The work he does is not paid off of commission so he doesn't have to worry about not making sales - or being biased in his "advice".... he just helps different fidelity customers with their accounts, makes recommendations, does a LOT of explaining about what the products are in people's retirement accounts, etc. He talked to us about it quite a bit because Leigh's retirement with AT&T is thru fidelity.

Is Jake thinking about going back to Europe to work full time?

Leigh had an article the other day that showed the starting salary of the avg college graduate and it was very depressing............ but it has gotten to the point where you can't hardly find a job of ANY kind without a degree or technical training. Honestly, there are a lot of technical skills such as heating and air, plumbing, electrical, welding, etc that pay way better than most college degrees - at least starting out.

Elaine, I try really hard not to think about them possibly being spread all over! I know I will spend lots of miles on the road if they are, but I also know they have to do what's best for their futures. I just try to savor every minute I can get them all together because I know those times are going to be fewer and further between.............they already are with Alex's crazy schedule and from what I understand the next three years will be much more like this month than the way the past 4 yrs have been! :( Leigh said the other night when we were on the way home that we messed up when we didn't get a photo of all of us while we were all together.

It is bad when your kids are all over the map. I never wanted to be very far from my Mamma, I never even considered moving anywhere away from Mamma and Gunny and Granddaddy ! I know we have FaceTime and Skype and all that now, but you can't get a hug from FaceTime !

Jerry is not going back to work. We don't know exactly how we are going to proceed yet, but have an appt tomorrow with an attorney. We are hoping he can get on disability, but if not then he will go ahead and file to draw his retirement when he turns 62 in March. There is no way he can work with his hand like it is, he is very uncoordinated now and only has 30% strength in it.

I said environmental science but I think it actually environmental engineering that Clint is majoring in. Justin is not wanting to go to work in a sales type job. What he is talking about is being a fund manager. He wants to work for one of the big mutual funds as a fund manager. He was planning to have a double major in economics and accounting but after taking some accounting classes he decided that was not for him. UC Santa Barbara is on the beach but the real reason he chose to go there is because of their economics program. They actually have several Noble Prize winners as professors in the economics dept. I have no doubt that if that's what Justin wants to do he'll figure out a way to do it. He will stretch himself to just see if he can do something. Then after he succeeds he may or may not actually want to do it. He is very confident of himself and is definitely his own person. For example he tried out for the CA all state band just to see if he could do it. He made it and was even one of 5 people to win a scholarship to a band camp. He was not interested in the band camp and didn't even go! He just wanted to see if he could actually make the all state band. He is always doing stuff like that. I was out there his senior year and he had won a big award (first place for something).He didn't even bother to tell Jeff and Kristi. Clint bought the medal he had won in from the car was the only way they knew! He said it was no big deal!

It's nice if kids can stay close by but Jeff had his sights on more exciting things than the jobs in Little Rock. He worked for Arkansas Electric Cooperative all the way through college. He even worked for them during holidays and breaks. They always wanted him to work. They tried to get him to go work for them after he graduated. He was engaged to Kristi when he graduated (she had one more year) and they both wanted to go to Dallas. She was kind of like Justin. She had decided she was going to go to work for one of the big eight (at the time) accounting firms in Dallas. She managed to do it. She had finals, got married, reported to work and sat for the CPA all in the month she graduated from college. She actually passed all parts of her CPA exam the first time. Jeff went to work troubleshooting the electrical system of stealth bombers right out of college. That was back in the day where he actually had a job waiting for him. He interviewed and was offered his job in Nov before he graduated in May. Don't think that happens much anymore.

Clint's school cost BIG bucks. But the school has lots of connections in the Silicon Valley and the school helps place graduates in well paying jobs. Jake is having second thoughts about going to Europe to teach. Not sure what he going to end up doing.

I was talking to SS yesterday and learned something I didn't know. I have been drawing my own SS. I have never drawn spousal. Our SS amounts were basically the same. However Richard's was slightly more than mine - about 40.00 a month more. The guy I talked with said I am probably entitled to drawn on his SS and receive the higher amount. He made me an appointment for Nov to discuss it. One thing I had learned too late several years ago was I could have started drawing spousal benefits when I turned 62 and then when I reached my full age for benefits started drawing on my own instead of spousal.

I know Yall are so proud of the boys!!! They have grown up to such fine young men!!

I'm gonna check and see if I can draw off Jim's SS then. I'll be 62 in April. I won't receive as much as him anyway. Thanks for that tip.

I thought that only went into effect if the spouse was deceased? After Wayne passed, Judy wound up drawing from her first husband, who died a couple of years after they married a long, long time ago.
Things change all the time, so check into it !

Hiwever it works you do need to check into it and ask lots of questions. They don't always tell you things unless you ask the right question. The guy I happened to talk to yesterday was really helpful. Not all are.

Charlotte, that is the absolute truth about SS and benefits. The way things are written, it is hard to understand and the average person, even if you're pretty savvy about things, doesn't always interpret it correctly. It does pay to keep asking the right questions, sometimes in different ways, and once you are there with a SS rep, keep asking until you get something answered that you understand.

I know you're proud of the boys. And Genna, you and Leigh are proud of your kids too. There will be opportunities I'm sure to get everyone together for a photo again. Just remember to do it!

Sandra, I am glad ya'll have an appointment with an attorney. I am sure that Jerry should be eligible for disability, but unfortunately it is not always easy to obtain without a lawyer. In almost all cases, he would draw more claiming on disability that he will on his 'regular' ss as well. I also hope you find an attorney who knows something about WC law. He should have a compensation coming for the loss of that hand. Even though he didn't completely lose the hand on the job, he has sustained permanent injuries and will probably have to deal with the pain and consequences of that for many, many years to come. Worker's comp covers more than just the medical bills of what he has had done so far - there should also be compensation for the permanent loss he has suffered on that limb - I would think there would be a financial compensation for all the permanent injuries he has endured. I also suspect there is a time limit that you have to file those claims.....that is why advice from someone who knows is imperative.

Funny you should mention that about drawing on the spouses SS - I JUST read this in a newsletter that comes in my quarterly report from my retirement. It was suggesting that you could draw a spousal benefit when you turn 62 and "delay" your personal ss from starting until you reached your "full retirement age"...... I had NEVER heard that before. I do know that once your spouse dies, that you can draw their amount if it is more than yours - which most men's are higher than their spouse. I will try to remember to pick that up at lunch and I can post exactly what it said. I just had never heard it until then.

The medicare and social security system are TOTALLY overwhelming to me as far as trying to understand it all and I consider myself more knowledgeable about insurance and retirement more than the average person. I think they try to make it complicated to keep all these people on the payroll - problem is most of them don't understand it either! :( Charlotte, if you find someone helpful, you should take their name and number if possible....sometimes it is impossible to find one of those! Leigh went to meet with them about medicare because we weren't sure if he should start that when he is still working. He came home more confused than when he went.

I don't think you are allowed to use Medicare until you are 65 or disabled, and you have to be disabled for 24 months before you get Medicare.
The attorney sent us across the hall to his partner, he has stopped working comp cases to let the "younger guys" do that. He took all the information but advised us to just stay the course we are in right now until all the doctors are through with Jerry. He also said if the doc released him to light duty, Jerry should go and try to do what they offer him. If he is put on a lower paying job, workers comp will make up the difference in his salary. If it hurts him then he will just have to quit and file for disability then. It is also true that the company can legally fire him. There are time limits on some of these filing things that need to be handled by the attorneys, so we are glad we now have that information and they are also contacting workers comp about our expenses we have not gotten back. The good news is this-when Jerry turns 62 he can go ahead and draw his regular SS. They can go ahead with the disability claim and if he is awarded disability then He will get the difference in the checks he has already received and will be put on the disability amount, which right now is 400 a month difference.
We were there all afternoon, I am tired and my brain is REALLY tired !

Sandra I'm glad you're getting getting advice from an attorney. All this is so complicated. So many little nuances.

It's also very complicated with medicare if you are still working at 65. If it is not handled properly I believe there are penalties, etc. You can only make changes in medicare coverage from something like Nov to Dec each year.

There is a retiree thread on here that talks about things like that.

My attorney's wife was the one that told me about drawing spousal benefits at 62 and then switching to your own at your retirement age. It was too late for me to do that when she told me about it. I talked with a person at the SS office before I decided to start drawing mine and she ran a lot of numbers for me but that option was never mentioned. I started drawing mine after 62 but before 65. I think it was around 64. There wasn't a lot of difference in me waiting so I just decided I was ready to draw it I wanted my money back! LOL

I have a degree in finance and worked in the banking industry for 28 years but what I've found is that it is best to pay someone to figure all this out for you! That's why I don't handle my own money. The amount I pay someone more than pays for itself through their expertise.

I started drawing my full SS last year when I turned 66 and there is no income limit so I would not be penalized. I too was concerned about Medicare part B but I found out that as long as I am covered by my employer there is no penalty and I will have 6 months when I stop working to sign up for it. I have very good insurance now and it only cost me $4 a week with a $200 deductible. I plan to work several more years.

I forgot to bring that newsletter so I could tell ya'll exactly what it said about the drawing off of a spouse at 62.

Thanks for that info Loretta! Leigh is 65, but he has good insurance thru his employer as well so we did opt for him not to sign up for medicare, even though we were not really sure about the penalty thing because they were not very clear with it, but that is finally the way we interpreted it as well. I think he will probably try to work about 4 or 5 more years but of course it will depend on his health and how things go. He could not have done that with the job they had him doing while he was working out of NLR. Now, the job he has is not hard work - just a lot of driving. He is in and out of the weather, but not stuck out in it all day like he was when he was working there. Our tentative plan is for him to start drawing next year when he turns 66 and continue working as well..... I know we will be taxed on it, so we may try to put most of the money back into his 401K thru employee contributions but we will just have to figure that out then.

Sandra, I am so glad that ya'll consulted the attorney. It gets pretty overwhelming dealing with something like this. Aside from work comp, I would think that Jerry would also be entitled to some liability payment from the company's liability insurance because of all that he is gone thru, but there again, you probably could not pursue that as long as he is actually employed by the company. I didn't realize that IF they offered light duty that they would be allowed to fire him - but I guess they always have the right to fire someone....but, if they did that, he would be allowed to draw his unemployment for a while as well. Maybe not if he did get disability started quickly, but if it is just regular SS he can draw unemployment with it. I am surprised that they advised him to return to work though..... my parents and I were in a really bad wreck when I was 13, and my Mom's back sustained a lot of damage but she attempted to go back to work because my Dad was already disabled and we desperately needed the income. She only held up about 3 or 4 months, but then it took her almost 6 yrs to get her SS started - and would never have gotten it without a good attorney. They told her then it was because she "returned to work" so therefore, she must have thought she was fit for work. I guess that explains why so many people I know that are drawing disability barely worked any in their life. :( Crazy system..............but the attorney from the start will help a lot I am sure!

I don't think I told ya'll but Alex had his house broken into Tuesday afternoon. They broke a window to slide it open and stole his backpack with his apple laptop and several books. I am sure they didn't want the books, but he is out about $ 700 on books. Thankfully, his laptop was insured, and although I am sure it won't pay for a replacement, at least it will help! They are just feeling very violated that someone was in their home.....I think the dog interrupted them and ran them back out and saved them from taking his desktop computer, tv etc. The police weren't interested at all and made no attempt to take fingerprints or anything. There was a shoe print in his floor and blood all down the back of his house where they cut themselves on the glass............ :( no wonder crime is rampant when they make no attempt to catch them.

Sandra be careful with anything that Jerry does right now with worker's comp. They will try to trick you if they can and they will spy on his everyday activities. I've seen companies put someone back to work and then let them go the same week.

Genna I'm so sorry for Alex's loss. I know they do feel violated and it will be a while before that sinking feeling goes away.

My mammogram was good so I'm celebrating another year!!!

Genna, I just hate that for Alex! They are just scumbags who would do this! I hope Alex does get some insurance money for his laptop. So difficult to replace everything, but hopefully they will be able to do so with the icloud backup features.

I talked to my friend today whose daughter is finishing next May also. She will also be awaiting word in March as to her Match. She is specializing in hematology/oncologyand has 3-4 main schools she is really interested in but like Alex applied for 20 something. She, like you, is worried her daughter will be far away. She already has her oldest daughter, who is now married, who has been working on her PhD at Penn State. She & her husband will be graduating this spring also, so she is hoping they will be closer.