My life was going great at the start of 2024. I was only 4 years away from retirement at my government job. My salary kept me comfortable, paying my mortgage and bills with a little left over to put in a retirement account. I didn’t necessarily love my job, but it was a means to an end, and it would be ending soon enough.

I was working on getting ready for retirement, working step by step to replace my appliances, create a manageable garden space, and organize the house the way I wanted it. There were still home repairs needing to be done, but I had just taken out a HELOC loan and started those projects. The roof came first, and that was completed the previous autumn.

My life was comfortable. I had no real health concerns other than diabetes, which I was managing with diet, exercise, and medication.

Life was busy with work, my adult children, and household projects.

Then