Thursday, March 30, Mary Loch will close the doors of her Watkins daycare after 11 years. April 1, a family from Minnetonka will arrive to haul away everything from her daycare, having purchased all her toys, equipment, and even the pots and pans from the kitchen.
Loch will not miss the 13-hour days. And she won?Äôt miss the ever-changing regulations and growing list of possible penalties being imposed on daycares in Minnesota.
She will dearly miss the kids and the families. And she will miss cooking for them every day.
But her days will not be idle. Not by a long shot.
Last year, Mary and her husband Dale retired their horse farm in rural Watkins. They sold the horses, equipment, and a training facility. They ended up keeping the farm house and a few acres of land, and everything else was auctioned off.
By this time, Mary had discovered Scottie dogs. Raising Scottie dogs has replaced horses in her life. Her time will continue to be occupied by her beloved dogs.
Cooking for her daycare kids is one of the things she?Äôll miss most after she retires March 30. Loch will have plenty to keep her occupied in the weeks and months to come, but she will have a smaller grocery bill. Staff photo by Jean Doran Matua.
She?Äôs got a few other things up her sleeve as well.
Loch owns the building on Central Avenue in Watkins where she?Äôs operated her daycare for 11 years. She rents out the second floor, and will now rent out the first floor where her daycare has been. She will occupy the basement of this building with an office, in addition to the farm house in the country.
In her office, she plans to write several books. She has a stack of books ready to be read, too. She?Äôs got three inventions that she will move forward on. She and her husband have scheduled a cruise this summer, and plan to make lots of road trips together. And she?Äôs got a part-time job at Menards. ?ÄúI?Äôve got about 30 years of stuff to do,?Äù Loch said last week.
?ÄúEverybody should have a passion,?Äù she said. ?ÄúOtherwise, you?Äôre like unsalted food.?Äù And Loch certainly has passions. She looks forward to jumping into the next phase of her life.
Loch admits that the guilt of closing her daycare is huge. But she will be 60 this year, and she has a husband and a life of other things waiting for her.
She will continue to do another of her passions: cooking for seniors. For Loch, cooking is like puttering, it?Äôs not work.
?ÄúI know that I make a difference in some lives, somewhere,?Äù she says.