Personal Passages: Matt and Susan Williams

Since Matt Williams retired 10 years ago, he’s faced a responsibility familiar to many boomers – caring for his aging parents. He and his wife, Susan, however, have also used their newfound free time to scratch their favorite itches, including local culture, travel and craft beer.

“Retirement kind of evolved,” Williams recalls. “We knew we’d be looking after my mom, dad and brother. After I retired, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I ended up getting tax preparer training. I worked five tax seasons before it was in the way of everything else.”

The Williamses’ “everything else” includes:

• Plenty of travel, including a recent Baltic Sea cruise. “I tried to have a beer at each port,” Matt recalls.
• Occasional trips with their best friends, “the people we travel with when we travel with someone,” to England, Scotland and Italy, and on a Mediterranean cruise.
• Hanging out with grandkids. Since their son and daughter-in-law are in nearby Northern Virginia (“What I call the 51st state”), Matt and Susan can visit and babysit often. They vacation together every year. And “We have Camp Grandma and Granddad in the summer.”
• Golfing with “a great senior group of golfers that play at Brandermill and other clubs.”
• Church choir and other church activities.
• Richmond Symphony Orchestra League, museums and foundations. “We love them all.”
• Richmond culture. “We love festivals, but we’ve reached the point where we can’t find enough time … Beyond the arts and music scene, we’re kind of foodies, too. We spend a fair amount of time seeking out new restaurants.”
• Brandermill Men’s Club.
• Biking the Capital Trail.
• Hokies football games.
• Disney World, “especially the Epcot wine and food festival in the fall. We’re going in October for a week, just the two of us – drive down, take our time. We actually go to the park and ride the rides.”