When tragedy struck Ron Little and Donna, his wife of 44 years, the six good years they shared in retirement became even more precious. Dreams they had developed together over decades had to be reimagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During their marriage, Donna was a homemaker caring for the couple\u2019s two daughters and later spending time with their grandchildren, while Ron worked for the postal service. As the Littles looked forward to Ron\u2019s completing 30 years in his work and retiring, they were uncertain about their finances and how to invest. So the couple sought the help of a financial advisor to develop a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew I\u2019d have a pension, but I wanted to figure out what to do to bolster our retirement because I was really ignorant about investments,\u201d Ron said. \u201cOur advisor came along at the perfect time for us. I wasn\u2019t able to retire at 55, but I could comfortably transition from my career at 58.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Ron retired in 2007, the couple planned to spend more time outdoors and enjoy the country home they literally built themselves. In November 2012 \u2014 just five years after Ron\u2019s retirement \u2014 Donna was diagnosed with a fast growing brain tumor known as a glioblastoma. Family rallied around Donna, doing everything possible to keep her comfortable. Four months later, Donna passed away at 63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without Donna, Ron had to reexamine his priorities and goals in retirement. He explained, \u201cWhen you lose the love of your life and you find yourself alone, you ask, \u2018Where do I go from here?\u2019 I had a lot of questions, and I had to zero in on what was important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ron realized he wanted to spend time with his grandchildren and leave them with as many positive memories of him as he could. \u201cI bought an eight-person tent, so we could spend time together as a family,\u201d he stated. He also rekindled his love of photography and purchased a quality camera. Ron pulled most of the family photos, usually kept in albums, and hung them throughout his home \u2014 even on the refrigerator. \u201cBecause I hung so many photos, I literally live with tons of memories,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his grieving period, many friends were at his side giving him creative diversions. He took a trip with his financial advisor to the Holy Lands, built a church in the Marshall Islands with the villagers, began hiking again, became a lifelong learner through courses offered by The Teaching Company and continued to volunteer in a prison ministry program called New Life Behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of his ongoing work with New Life Behaviors, Ron said, \u201cWhen I look out at the ocean of white uniforms, I don\u2019t see inmates; I see students. These men are in the Honor Dorm, which means they are well behaved and agree to participate in reform programs. When Donna was sick, I received a nice, well-written letter from one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ron keeps a regular weekly schedule, where he teaches in the prison ministry program on Mondays and at his church on Wednesdays. On weekends he travels and spends time with family. Ron dedicates his mornings to helping one of his inmate students by typing a manuscript of a novel his student wrote by hand from prison. \u201cThese opportunities have just come along; they are not things I aggressively pursued,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ron is honoring Donna with a life that reflects the legacy they planned to leave. \u201cOur life has had its tragedies, but life has been good,\u201d he said. \u201cI have very few, if any, regrets. No one knows how short his or her time is, but people should consider what is going to make their lives most meaningful to them and their families.\u201d Ron\u2019s retirement life is an outstanding example of how to serve others through a purposeful life, even in the face of devastating loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When tragedy struck Ron Little and Donna, his wife of 44 years, the six good years they shared in retirement became even more precious. Dreams they had developed together over decades had to be reimagined. During their marriage, Donna was a homemaker caring for the couple\u2019s two daughters and later spending time with their grandchildren, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":905,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","testimonial_date":"","testimonial_name":"","testimonial_position":"","testimonial_location":"","testimonial_stars":"","testimonial_video":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oi_testimonial\/904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oi_testimonial"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oi_testimonial"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oi_testimonial\/904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":906,"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oi_testimonial\/904\/revisions\/906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vectorwealthstrategies.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}