Andrew wakes up around 9:00 AM but who’s keeping track- he’s retired. He can smell his wife cooking in the kitchen down the hall. Every morning they have breakfast together and watch the news. The spend most days in the community center with their friends where they can play cards, watch TV, and hangout. Andrew was reluctant at first about the 55+ neighborhood with what he calls “old people day care” because he saw it as a sign of losing his independence and giving into old age. Here he has found friends who are just as energetic as he is. Because he still drives, he and his wife often pick up their grandchildren from elementary school in the afternoon. They work on homework together and have snacks until their parents pick them up on their way home from work. Andrew cooks dinner for himself and his wife. They take an after-dinner walk every evening and then watch a movie before going to bed.

Avery wakes up at 10:00 AM on the days they work. By then their partner has already left for the day. They eat an easy breakfast of overnight oats. Since they’ll spend the rest of their day cooking at the restaurant, they try to minimize how much they cook at home. When they arrive at the restaurant at 1:00 PM, things are already hectic. On the bright side, they know they have job security there but it’s tiring to work in such a busy environment all the time. Despite it all, Avery makes it through most shifts feeling positive and enjoying the company of their co-workers. They work until 10:00 PM when the restaurant closes and leave exhausted. When they arrive home, their partner has dinner ready and the show they’ve been watching pulled up on the TV. They eat together and talk about their days before moving to the couch to watch an episode before going to bed.

Mary wakes up at 5:00 AM and goes to the gym for an early morning class. She’s home by 6:30 with just enough time to make her daughter breakfast like she has every weekday morning for the last 18 years. After she sends her daughter off to school, she changes into her scrubs and heads to the hospital. On the drive there, she thinks about what it will be like when her daughter leaves for college. Her husband passed away two years ago and she’s nervous to be alone. She comes home from her shift at the hospital at 5:00 PM and starts preparing dinner. She eats with her daughter and they cleanup together. Mary gets ready for bed and finds herself spending that time worrying again about the changes to come.