Dad loved to spring surprises on the family, but last year, he sprang the biggest surprise of all on us.
He told me he was retiring from the business and he and mom were moving south.
He had never mentioned that he was planning on retiring, let alone that they were moving. I was dumbfounded. I worked at the car lot he owned. Who was going to run the car lot? What would happen if he just closed the car lot? My wife looked at me like I was going to come up with some amazing answers, but I had none. Dad looked at me and smiled, and just said, “Well…?”. I was thinking, well what, but I didn’t have the guts to say it out loud. He asked if I was ready? I had no idea what he was talking about until he broke the news. He told me he was leaving the car lot in my more than capable hands. I had been working with him for ten years. He knew I was ready to take over the business. He talked about the project he had in the work. He was having a new HVAC system installed. He wanted it announced to the crew at our monthly management meeting. He said that new heating and air conditioning needed to be installed. He had heard the grumbles from employees and customers about how uncomfortable the showroom was. He gave me all of his paperwork on the HVAC system and the keys. He said I would find all the information I needed in the desk and filing cabinets. I had the number of the HVAC company, and he wished me luck. He was officially retired.