Tomorrow, I'll attend the last meeting with my two business associates. For nearly twelve years, I've driven across town for that purpose every Wednesday morning, and I'm very glad that routine is coming to an end.

Last night, I sorted the company files I have here. I'll take them with me and give them to the partner who is buying my share. We talked on the phone last night, and he's very happy to be getting the control he needs in order to make some important changes. The General Manager will be surprised to learn he's being relieved of that position. He'll be offered an incremental buyout which, I was told, is going to be a lesser amount than what I negotiated - even though his percentage of ownership is higher than mine was. His authoritarian manner has generated animosity that has simmered for quite some time, and now it looks as if he's going to pay a price for it.

Thursday, I'll be disconnected from the bookkeeping software, and that will relieve a lot of stress. No longer will I be aware of the financial ups and downs and fret about them as if they were my own. I'll still be available by phone or email as a consultant, but cutting that electronic umbilical cord will make a big difference.

Instead of being faced with the prospect of having to continue as I was for the next two years in order to protect my investment, I now have a contract that says I'm owed the funds whether I'm able to work or not. If I suddenly croak, the money's there for my wife.

It's been a very long time since I didn't have to conform to a schedule of some kind. I've been devoting the first three days of the week to this effort since I tried to cut back a couple of years ago.

I'm not retiring, of course. I'm now Vice President of a music publishing company and label. That requires time and effort, but - as with anything that's a passion - it doesn't seem like work. I'll continue to create songs and work with our other writers and the singer I signed up a few weeks ago.

And, I'll be more free now to volunteer as needed.