The decision to finally retire (after 58+ years in WBT and SIL) has caused us to assess why this seems to be the right time. There are a number of things that influenced our decision, but age is certainly one of them. I am 81 and Joice is 83, so there is not much likelihood of us working overseas again or even in a full-time teaching capacity. Another factor is our health: I had a pacemaker installed in October of 2012 after feeling faint whenever I bent over and got up quickly.
Then Joice had a diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma (the parotid or salivary gland) in February of 2013. She had surgery and follow-up proton and chemo therapy in Houston that lasted 6 weeks. She now has 6 monthly checkups and has lost hearing in her left ear as a result of the proton radiation. We decided that retirement and moving from Dallas was in the works. So we moved to Waco in March of 2014 and now live in a townhouse, about 5 or 6 minutes from our Waco family (Mike, Karol and our three grandchildren–Kirsten (14), Evan (12) and Cam (10).
As of December 1st, 2014, we are officially retired, although we hope to still be of some service to WBT and SIL and, especially, to the West Kewa Old Testament translation team.