Retirement? How’s That Going for You These Days?
Retirement? How’s That Going For You These Days?
Well I am finally there for real. I am fully retired again. I say again because I attempted this twice before and it didn’t take. This time it looks like I am retired for real. Crap –no no I mean Yea, no I really mean crap or is it really yea ? Now I am confused again. I really thought I had this worked out but it appears that after eight months I still have mixed emotions about the situation. I am not sure if this is the norm for older retires (I am 66) but I have a feeling it is.
A few years back, when I was contemplating my first go round with retirement, an older gentleman told me that if a person was really ready for retirement it will be great and wonderful but if they were not ready in their mind, it will be pure HELL. I think I was and still am somewhere in between.
There are days when retirement is great. No schedule or set time to get up or be anywhere. Time ceases to be a pressing factor in ones life. For the most part I get to do what I want when I want; constrained only by finances and the wife. On most any day I can persue my hobby (painting), if I want. If I had rather play on the computer most of the day, that is fine too. My wife of almost forty two years still works part time and is usually home by early afternoon on her work days so we have time to get out and about if we so desire.
Now to the downside of being retired. Being a capitalist country there is a social undercurrent (primarily concerning men) expressing the idea that if you are not working you are less than a desirable or viable person. I know and understand this is not true – or is it? I do feel left out and miss being a part of the working world. This is especially true because I was in jobs/positions that some times allowed me to make a difference, garnered respect, and made me feel good about myself. Some of those jobs gave me the opportunity to travel around the world, live in different cultures and meet some great people. A number of years ago I ran into a retired Chief of Quality about three years after he had retired from the facility in which we worked. He said he thing he missed most was being asked his opinion. He lamented that when he was working, people were coming to him on a daily basis asking his thoughts and assistance in problem resolution. He told me that now nobody cares a rats butt what he thinks about anything. I now know the feeling.
Every one’s story about their road to retirement is different, so here is mine. This is provided for the possibility that readers might relate with some of the circumstances that prompted my own retirement. The first time I retired was in 2004 and it lasted a total of fourteen months. I was in reasonably good health and just got tired of sitting around the house. I got on the internet and found a job back in Tel Aviv, Israel, where my wife and I had lived and worked on two previous occasions for a total of five years. We were there this last time for a total of twenty seven months. I came back home to Birmingham, AL and retired again October of 2007. That lasted about four months. I was able to find a job with the largest hospital in Alabama (in Birmingham) which is also one of the top research medical centers in the nation.
Unfortunately it was a few months afterword that my poor old overweight, overused and abused body began to malfunction. I ended up having open heart bypass surgery in August of 2008. There were some minor complications but I was able to go back to work by the first of October 2008, which was much too soon. At that point one of my knees told me and my doctors that I needed a knee replacement. I did last on the job for four months after returning. By then it had became apparent to me that between the pressures of the job, the pressure of the commute back and forth, the knee and the continued operation recovery demands of my body I was not going to last much longer. So rather than drop dead from a stroke one day on the job, I took my wife’s advice and resigned effective the end of January 2009.
So, here I am, King of the dwelling, with the primary duty and responsibility of keeping the kitchen neat and clean. I don’t get out too much these days – still haven’t gotten the knee replacement. I manage to keep busy by watching a good deal of television; playing or working on the computer; painting in watercolor, oil and acrylic; taking a few on line courses through the local community college where my wife works and catnapping (don’t sleep much at night these days).
An active social life, friends, organizations or church, is good for the mental well being of a retiree. It not only develops interaction with other people but adds some structure to retired life. The wife and I really miss living overseas because of the social activities. We were friends