It took me a while to get the box open, but I was glad I did. I didn't count it, but there had to be two thousand dollars worth of gold coins in the b...x.I was grinning from ear to ear as I transferred the coins to my saddle bags. "At least Lettie isn't destitute," I thought.John had supper with us again. That made five of us at the evening meal. I watched as Lettie helped Millie and Tess and I was impressed. It looked like she knew what she was doing.After we finished eating, Tess and John. I thought “Oh she must ride horses.”Felicia returned from the kitchen with two glasses and sat down on the couch next to me. “Here you go Tam, now drink up!” I laughed and took a small sip and felt myself relax. She smiled at me and said “Take those heels off and put your feet up, its wine time.” As I undid the straps and slid my shoes off I caught her eyes, they were transfixed on my feet. I almost thought I heard a gasp as I swung my legs up and leaned back my toes pointing towards her. We. It didn’t matter which flavor one took ... they all tasted the same and required hot sauce to make it palatable. Rumor had it that the primary ingredient was recycled paper with flavors, vitamins, and minerals added. The nutritional quality of the food was poor enough that a person would basically die if it was the sole basis of a diet for a year.One step above the government food brick was the stew. The stews had little in common with their ancestors, other than being comprised of chunks of. The thought of retiring early was frightening because it would be so long until he could collect his social security but he and his wife had decided he should make the move and retire for the sake of his mental and physical health as well as for the sake of their marriage.The day of his retirement Aaron and his wife Bonnie left for a six week retirement trip. They had always wanted to travel and so they immediately began doing so. The first few years of Aaron's retirement they planned to drive.