I Made Plans, the Universe Laughed!

Welcome to Retirement

“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

The “R” word was explicitly avoided when I left the last Zoom meeting and closed Slack for the final time at work. The word “retirement” did not seem apropos for my next moves. Well aware of a Yiddish expression about planning, I spent the final six weeks of my forty-six-year corporate career setting SMART goals for the first quarter of retirement. Daily, weekly, and monthly goals were in preparation for a new year and the launch of my reinvented self. Since I worked remotely, there were no colleagues to share punch, cookies and camaraderie like my mother’s final day at work.

I had a busy first month ‘away from work’ planned; I still wasn’t using the “R” word. From the beginning, other priorities began emerging. My younger sister moved from in-home care with her neighbor, to a hospital, a nursing home and quickly transitioned to hospice care. Other issues that would have seemed monumental paled in comparison to the speed of her declining health. My car was severely damaged while parked in a Panera Bread lot. I was inside and the offending driver drove away. It resulted in filing a police report, insurance company calls, repair estimates, brief anger that the driver would have no liability, three weeks in an uncomfortable rental and a $500 deductible because of someone else’s negligence. I wanted to be outraged. However, thinking of my sister fighting for her life; my issues paled in comparison. Perspective.

The new outlook came in handy a few days later when our childhood home was accidentally set on fire by an elderly squatter, who was thankfully rescued by firefighters. My sister’s former window at the neighbor’s house faced our childhood home. It was the only other house she ever lived in and I decided to share photos of the aftermath. “I’m glad I didn’t watch the fire and hear the sirens. I would have had nightmares about our house,” she said softly. Perspective.

I will spare you other hiccups that would have seemed worthy of a blog post until my perspective changed. Now I use the “R”word! After forty-six, mostly good years, I’ve come to appreciate retirement as an opportunity off the corporate treadmill. I’ll be sharing content about becoming older, bolder and better. I’ll write about people 60+ fulfilling passions and others discovering new ones. 85 years plus is the one of the fastest growing demographics in America. According to recent Pew Research, America currently has 101,000 centenarians. In the next 30 years America will have more than 420,000 people celebrating their 100th birthday. Get ready!