Retirement Ceremony

Yesterday afternoon we had Bob's retirement ceremony. Because of where he works, no cameras, cell phones, any electronic device pretty much, are allowed in the building, so we could not take any pictures. There was an official photographer, and someone from that office told Bob today that he would receive a disk of the pictures next week sometime. But right now, all I have is this picture of our family in our front hallway!

We were honored to have Bob's sister Ann and her daughter Christi come up from Richmond, as well as Bob's brother Paul and his son Brandon come down from PA. My parents were also here. It was so special to have family here to celebrate with us! We were so glad they came! Paul and Brandon spent 2 nights with us, and the kids were lobbying for them just to stay forever, LOL.

Our very good friend Ed L. was the emcee/presiding officer. He also was the one who led the ceremony when Bob pinned on Major back in Colorado. Bob wanted something less formal and more personal than some of the ceremonies he had seen recently, and Ed did such a fantastic job.

My dad gave the invocation at the beginning of the ceremony, and then we all sang the National Anthem. Ed introduced the family members, and then he recounted Bob's Air Force career. They called me up and gave me my certificates of appreciation. Then Bob got a bunch of certificates, medals, and other miscellaneous tokens, including a shovel signed by the people he worked with (the "Ground Component"). Then Ed read the retirement orders, and Bob said a few things, and that was that! Luke commented, "It was good . . . it wasn't too long, but nothing was left out." I was glad it wasn't too long because right as we were sitting down and getting started, Anna whispered that she needed to go potty. She had just had ample time to perform this function, but she refused all those opportunities. In the building, we couldn't go anywhere without Bob escorting us, and we couldn't very well leave the ceremony anyways, so I told her she just had to hold it. So brevity was indeed a very good thing!

Bob and I shook hands with everyone on the way out of the auditorium, and there was a nice reception in the atrium. There was pizza, as well as a chocolate fountain with fruit, and cake. It was nice!

Bob has to work a few days next week, and then he'll pretty much be done, even though his retirement orders are dated 1 August. He's been talking to some companies about jobs, so that will be his focus on these next few weeks. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition to retired life!