This is a membership Morsel from “Too Young to Retire”. Today, we are continuing to talk about having purpose in your life. Enjoy the story.
Sally was a grand cruise ship. She had sailed from New York, Miami, Long Beach, Vancouver, Rome, and Amsterdam. She cruised all the coasts of North America and enjoyed Panama every time she went through the lock. The Mediterranean and Caribbean were great places to be in the wintertime and she loved the Baltic and Alaska in the summer.
She was elegant yet chic and she tried her best to make all her guests feel like royalty. Majestic and refined, she was the beautiful 90,000-ton ship that accommodated 2,202 guests in the ultimate of comfort with unobtrusive pampering. She was especially proud of her Touches of Art Deco combined with modern features create a décor of classic elegance which delighted all her guest.
She had gleaming polished woods, rich Italian marble, artwork and sparkling chandeliers that provided the perfect setting for a relaxing cruise. Gracing the three-deck Grand Lobby's magnificent staircase is the ship's centerpiece, an art piece that spiraled up three stories, made of glass and wood that reflected the history of the sea.
She was especially proud of the food served on her. It made her jealous that she could never taste the wonderful creations that the chefs served up. The endless buffets on the LIDO deck, the beautiful art that was displayed at the art gallery. She loved the jewelry; it made her feel very rich.
She had friends that she passed all the time on the sea. There was Tom the tanker, with his white whiskers and pipe. Caroline the Container ship who was always complaining about all the containers that were piled may stories high. Plus, Theodore the Tug who always greeted her when she came back to home port.
One day she realized she had not seen Tom the Tanker in a while, and he was missing the last time she came home. When Theodore the Tug came toddling by, she hailed him. Have you seen Tom?
Theodore the Tug lowered his voice and in a loud whisper said, I heard he had been retired and sent to the scrape yard. That was 6 months ago, and no one has seen him since!
Sally gasped, you mean my good friend is gone for good and I never got a chance to say my goodbyes?
Theodore replied, I’m afraid so, and unfortunately, we are all getting up there in age and who knows when we will be sent to the scrape yard.
Sally was depressed for many days, but then she learned she was going to South America for six months. She had never been there and wondered if she could get around even though she didn’t speak Spanish.
For many more years she continued to ply the seas and served thousands of people. Then one day she noticed that they had left her tied up at the dock. No food was being delivered, and most of the crew was gone. What was going on? she thought.
She saw her owner come on board one day and he had a large group of people with him. They were looking at the furniture, chandeliers, and kitchens. She heard comments like this is outdated and we could get very little for it. The new kitchens are less labor intensive then hers, the price of stainless steel is way up, we could get a pretty penny for all the steel here if we scraped it.
She grew alarmed, what were they talking about? Was she being decommissioned and taken apart? What was it like to no longer be useful?
Then one day a group of young men came on board. They walked around the skip, making comments about, this room would be a perfect ball room, we could make a shopping mall where the gambling casino is. Do you think people would come here for dinner theaters? A hole was cut in the side of her, and her boilers and turbines were removed. It was like having your heart ripped out.
They towed her to a pier that had been used for unloading ore. The steel plant was gone, and the pier sat forlorn. She wondered what it was like to be slowly dismantled, lose all her friends, and identity, and finally die. She sat there for a couple of years wondering what was going to happen to her.
One day a bunch of men showed up and started to measure her up. They dammed off the slip she was docked in and pushed her to the other side. Then they drained the slip and built several piers where she had been tied up. Once they were built, they flooded the slip and floated her over top of the piers. Then they let the excess water out and she settled nicely on the piers. They felt good but she knew she could never sail off them.
Then people start to work on the dock putting in a parking lot, men came on board and cleaned her from top to bottom. Her kitchen was redesigned and spruced up. New bedding and furniture was installed. She heard that she was going to be the newest hotel and be an auxiliary center to the convention center that was being built next door. She couldn’t believe she was being reborn.
Theodore came around and winked his eye at her. I knew they wouldn’t put you out to pasture. You’re still the prettiest ship anywhere around. She beamed from bow to stern at the grand opening and never looked back at the days of her traveling and seeing the world.
When you retire are you going to be sent to the scrap yard like Tom the Tanker or be reinvent like Sally the cruise ship? Its all up to you.
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