James Enright:  

Barbara Riera and I have been married since the summer of 67. I was in the Air Force and Barb was a nursing student. I was stationed in Cheyenne Wyoming and we had our honeymoon on our trip from Jersey City to Cheyenne. Talk about culture shock! We spent several years in Cheyenne and grew to love the western US. After I was discharged we spent one final year in Cheyenne while I was in training with New York Life. Barb worked as an operating room nurse at the main hospital in Cheyenne. New York Life transferred us to Roswell NM (yes we have heard all the jokes) and then seven months later to Phoenix Arizona. I managed several offices in the state for NYL and Barb worked as a bookkeeper at a semiconductor company and then managed an office for a plastic surgeon. Fourteen years after joining NYL I left to open an Allstate Insurance office and four years later an independent insurance agency and wholesale brokerage. In the meantime Barb purchased an indoor tropical plant nursery that was in need of a turnaround. In 2009 the plant nursery finally succumbed to the latest version of our ongoing recession (hard to keep a business afloat when most of your clients are declaring bankruptcy) that the business managed to survive as long as it did was a testament to the skill, dedication, hours and blood sweat and tears that Barb invested in the business.. In January of 2001 I sold my interest in my insurance agency and semi retired, hard to believe I have been "retired" for 20 + years..In 2009 Barb retired from the tropical plant business and "retired" actually she still does the books for our commercial office building plus now is painting in oils, acrylics and water colors as well as hiking, kayaking and gardening. I keep busy with managing our office building, maintaining our vehicles and real estate. Hobbies also help keep me busy, as I build furniture, work on hotrods, play racquetball, snow ski, kayak and ride motorcycles. When Barb and I purchased our Tahoe home in 1996 it was half of a duplex, it was small but we loved the location and with both of us working we were somewhat limited in the amount of time we could spend away from our respective careers. That time restriction vanished when we were both retired, then we had to take a hard look at where and how we were living. and what we wanted to do going forward in retirement. Fortunately we were in agreement in our love of the Lake Tahoe area because an opportunity soon p...Expand for more