RETIREMENT

I was fortunate enough to be able to retire last August 27, 2010. I had worked all my life, since the age of 14 with short breaks when I had each of my 4 children...short breaks ranging from 2 months to 4 months. I have had a lot of different jobs: 

Flunky on a cattle ranch (kitchen helper), working from 4:30 am to 11:30 pm daily, making $14/day. 

 
Burger flipper in a small town cafe...don't remember what I was paid.

Telephone Operator...small town PBX-type board, with different rings for every person in the system. Lots of fun, really...worked from 7 pm to 9 am and made 90 cents/hour.

Waitress in a restaurant. Which became Assistant Manager in a Denny's Restaurant.

Transcriptionist for a Psychiatrist who specialized in Abnormal Psychology, and for a Dermatologist who measured the margins of my work with a centimeter ruler!! 

Back office "nurse" for two Cardiovascular Surgeons (say that fast!)

Volunteer Coordinator for Campfire Inc.

Administrative Assistant for Outpatient Services with a Community Mental Health Center.

Office Manager for Kids Voting Alaska.

Office Manager for a Chronically Mentally Ill program.

Afternoon Secretary in a Grade School.

Proposal Coordinator in a Fisheries Research Institute at a University.

Lead Proposal Coordinator in a Geophysical Research Institute at a University.

WOW! That's a lot of jobs...but I learned a whole lot from each of them. My "longest run" was the last one, and it was by far the most stressful. I loved the work. But when a person gets to a certain age...it could be any age, really...the need to NOT work becomes important. Combined with "age" and my heart episode (previously blogged about), it became a driving desire to be finished with that phase of my life. 

What a frightening thing it was to turn in my letter of retirement! I was totally shaking and nervous about it. And then came the count down. With my retirement system I was required to turn in my paperwork two months prior to retirement. You know, when you decide to leave....you need to leave!! But in my case I had to stay for 2 months....talk about torture!!! It became increasingly more difficult to get out of bed in the morning and get ready to go to work. It became more difficult to even "care" about my work, to maintain the level of dedication that I had always given to my employer. On top of all that, I was still dealing with serious health issues and had run out of sick leave. I had a couple of co-workers who took me "under their wing" and rounded up people who gave me hours and hours of their sick leave so I didn't have to take a big hit in my pay check because I had doctor appointments all the time. I shall ALWAYS be thankful for these two wonderful ladies!!!!! 

Nine Square Zentangle

  
At first, after I retired, it felt like I was on a much-needed vacation....and it felt sooooo good! Then, after about 3 weeks, it felt like I was "playing hooky" and needed to stay home and not go to town....like I was on "sick leave" but not really sick? I know that none of you have ever done that...LOL. But finally, I knew I was really retired and that I needed to come up with a schedule of some sort. Over a period of time my schedule has sort of developed and I no longer feel "strange" about being retired. 

The best part of being retired and of the "age" is that there are Senior Discounts for all kinds of things, from shopping to restaurants to movie theaters. 

The psychology of being retired is interesting...no longer was I in demand because I "knew everything" about my "JOB"....no longer did I feel needed.....and these feelings caught me "off guard". I wanted to be home, take care of the house, cook better meals, spend time with my puppy and my Love, and most of all, become the full-time artist that I had dreamed about for so long.....but when the reality of retirement set in I felt useless. Thankfully, these feelings didn't last forever....and I was able to move past them. 

Now? Now it is so wonderful to be able to rest when I want to, to nap if I need to, to exercise more, to cook better meals...from "scratch" more than from prepared foods, to be able to spend the whole day in my studio and being creative, and to go out to shop or whatever during the day without worrying that I have to get back to a job right away. What a joy to meet with other friends who are retired over a long leisurely lunch! But I am convinced that the trick is to keep active...and for as long as possible.

A Large Canvas with my "Steampunk" Zentangle.

 

I found this poem on retirement and thought I would share it with you:

There's quite an art to falling apart as the years go by,
And life doesn't begin at 40.That's a big fat lie.
My hair's getting thinner, my body is not;
The few teeth I have are beginning to rot.

I smell of Vick's Vapo Rub, not Chanel #5;
My new pacemaker's all that keeps me alive.
When asked of my past, every detail I'll know,
But, what was I doing 10 minutes ago?

Well, you get the idea, what more can I say?
I'm off to read the obituary, like I do every day;
If my names there, I'll once again start -
perfecting the art of falling apart.

                               — Unknown Wise Person

I wish each of you a day filled with something to do...fun or otherwise.

Janie