to dinner and I thought it was going to be this huge celebration, but I was numb. I was tired; it was over. It didn’t feel how I thought it was going to feel.”
Plus, although Craig had finally completed a grueling marathon, the terms of the sale required that he run even farther. He had to stay on with the company for three more years to ensure a smooth transition. The new CEO had a more structured management style than Craig, so the company’s cultural environment changed and his former employees struggled to adapt.
“If I was gone it would have been hard for me just to hear about it, but to live it was really hard,” he says. “I was showing up for work without a whole hell of a lot to do. The last year was one of the worst years of my life.”
Kathi stayed on and worked for the new company as well. Within a year of the sale, another transition: Craig asked Kathi to become his wife.
“When he did propose I was like, Okay, I’m not giving him any time to change his mind ,” she says with a smile. “I said, ‘Can you get ready to get married within two months?’ ”
On October 5, 1996, exactly one year after the sale of the company, Craig and Kathi married. They were committed to each other and to their dual dream of one day doing what they wanted when they wanted. That day turned out to be October 10, 1998. At ages forty-three and forty respectively, Craig and Kathi officially retired. They said good-bye to work and hello to Hawaii for ten days to map out how the rest of their lives would unfold.
In May 1999, the Juntunens moved to Vail, one of their favorite places to ski, snowshoe, and hike. They spent all of their time together and with their beloved golden Labrador retrievers, Buster and Bubba.
“When we first retired,” Craig says, “I woke up every morning pinching myself and giggling in the sense that I didn’t have to deal with anything anymore, and it was such a sense of freedom. My morning ritual was walking our Labs past the golf course, and we’d go down to the creek and I’d wash my face in the water and we’d watch the sun come up over the Rockies. It was very peaceful and I felt really safe. I didn’t understand how calm things could get, how slow things could get. It was very different from this whirlwind we had been on.”
For fun, Craig went through a clinic to become a ski instructor and got hired for $9.00 an hour giving lessons at a local resort. Both young and healthy, Craig and Kathi also spent extended periods of time traveling the world. They voyaged aboard small cruise ships to Italy, Turkey, and Greece, where they biked, hiked, and explored.
Snowshoeing in Vail, 1999 (Courtesy of Kathi Juntunen)
“I had traveled the country for work,” Kathi says, “but I had never traveled internationally, so those were just great days.”
In 2000, it made sense for the active couple to buy another house, this time in Arizona, which allowed them to play golf when Colorado was less inviting.
“In the early days of retirement, we basically lived like a dog,” Craig says. “There were the ritual undertakings—you slept, you ate, and you got a little exercise every day. The biggest decisions we made were, ‘Are we going to use a three wood or a driver off the tee?’ and ‘Are we drinking red or white wine for dinner?’ Life couldn’t have been any easier for the first year.”
There was abundance: recreation, travel, fabulous restaurants, and cocktail parties on the country club circuit. More of a homebody than Kathi, Craig tolerated the high-end gatherings and immersed himself in countless rounds of golf with friends. As a couple, they were very happy and rarely had any source of conflict. However, there were some adjustments. Craig was used to relying on support staff as CEO of a company.
“We had to work through that,” Kathi says, chuckling. “He would scream my name out to come help him do something. I was like, ‘Okay, time out.’ That was a bit
Plus, although Craig had finally completed a grueling marathon, the terms of the sale required that he run even farther. He had to stay on with the company for three more years to ensure a smooth transition. The new CEO had a more structured management style than Craig, so the company’s cultural environment changed and his former employees struggled to adapt.
“If I was gone it would have been hard for me just to hear about it, but to live it was really hard,” he says. “I was showing up for work without a whole hell of a lot to do. The last year was one of the worst years of my life.”
Kathi stayed on and worked for the new company as well. Within a year of the sale, another transition: Craig asked Kathi to become his wife.
“When he did propose I was like, Okay, I’m not giving him any time to change his mind ,” she says with a smile. “I said, ‘Can you get ready to get married within two months?’ ”
On October 5, 1996, exactly one year after the sale of the company, Craig and Kathi married. They were committed to each other and to their dual dream of one day doing what they wanted when they wanted. That day turned out to be October 10, 1998. At ages forty-three and forty respectively, Craig and Kathi officially retired. They said good-bye to work and hello to Hawaii for ten days to map out how the rest of their lives would unfold.
In May 1999, the Juntunens moved to Vail, one of their favorite places to ski, snowshoe, and hike. They spent all of their time together and with their beloved golden Labrador retrievers, Buster and Bubba.
“When we first retired,” Craig says, “I woke up every morning pinching myself and giggling in the sense that I didn’t have to deal with anything anymore, and it was such a sense of freedom. My morning ritual was walking our Labs past the golf course, and we’d go down to the creek and I’d wash my face in the water and we’d watch the sun come up over the Rockies. It was very peaceful and I felt really safe. I didn’t understand how calm things could get, how slow things could get. It was very different from this whirlwind we had been on.”
For fun, Craig went through a clinic to become a ski instructor and got hired for $9.00 an hour giving lessons at a local resort. Both young and healthy, Craig and Kathi also spent extended periods of time traveling the world. They voyaged aboard small cruise ships to Italy, Turkey, and Greece, where they biked, hiked, and explored.
Snowshoeing in Vail, 1999 (Courtesy of Kathi Juntunen)
“I had traveled the country for work,” Kathi says, “but I had never traveled internationally, so those were just great days.”
In 2000, it made sense for the active couple to buy another house, this time in Arizona, which allowed them to play golf when Colorado was less inviting.
“In the early days of retirement, we basically lived like a dog,” Craig says. “There were the ritual undertakings—you slept, you ate, and you got a little exercise every day. The biggest decisions we made were, ‘Are we going to use a three wood or a driver off the tee?’ and ‘Are we drinking red or white wine for dinner?’ Life couldn’t have been any easier for the first year.”
There was abundance: recreation, travel, fabulous restaurants, and cocktail parties on the country club circuit. More of a homebody than Kathi, Craig tolerated the high-end gatherings and immersed himself in countless rounds of golf with friends. As a couple, they were very happy and rarely had any source of conflict. However, there were some adjustments. Craig was used to relying on support staff as CEO of a company.
“We had to work through that,” Kathi says, chuckling. “He would scream my name out to come help him do something. I was like, ‘Okay, time out.’ That was a bit
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