retired

 

I've been counting down my retirement date for years (there's a (=DATEDIF) function in Excel that will give you the difference between dates in years/months/days, because of course there is), and the last day of work finally arrived. I'm not really retired until the end of the month, because I'm working off required time off, but I've had reduced workload for weeks, as well as a position as fount of department memory and lore, and old guy who's in the way as we try to institute some too-long-delayed changes around here.

I had, in essence, two retirement celebrations with my staff today: an online one during work hours, and the dinner at the Rutgers Club where the photo above was taken. For the online Zoom-like affair, a few of us were in the office including my director (with her young daughter in the picture above), and she brought over my going-away gifts: the obligatory official plaque, a card with cash inside (my stars! People were so generous!), and another plaque, this one a printout of memories and well-wishes from my coworkers (in mine and several associated departments), printed in several colors and framed. Around the fame matte, many had hand-written even more thoughts. I was moved when I received and read it, and I put it away; I'm not ready to look at it again yet. I'm tearing up again now, just thinking about it.

The dinner was at the Rutgers Club, far classier than most of the places I go, so I got out my tux for the occasion. My pictures didn't come out as well as that one above from Jackie M; a few are below:

People took time at the dinner to tell me what they remembered and what I had meant to them, and I was just awed at the lovely things they said. I am so grateful to have had the experience of working with these folks, in this wonderful project, over the past six years, after having been fired from another job at the age of 60 (I might never have worked again). Unless they were simply being polite, I meant more to these people than I knew. I am so grateful to have been a part of their lives, and that they have such memories of me. I had no idea. People to whom I've always wished I could be better, told me how much I meant to them. I'm humbled.

And now a new part of my life starts. Between school and work, except for summer vacations, I've had something to do and somewhere to go daily for more than sixty years... and now I don't. I've been telling bike club members that I thought to get a part-time job as a bike mechanic... and during the dinner, I got a text from a local shop saying they'd got my number from riders who knew me, and asking if I was willing to talk about maybe coming on. I've sent an email with some of my experience and job expectations. We'll see.

It's the middle of then night, now, and I'm not sleeping. I'm nervous and excited to see what happens now.

The Excellent Wife (TEW) and me:

She sure cleans up good-lookin', don't she? I'm lucky to have her.