If a person has the option to retire from work, it is a choice that requires careful consideration before taking the leap into a time zone where there are no clocks. To complicate things, if one is fortunate to have a spouse or companion to share retirement time, do you retire together? And, if the two of you have had individuals career paths or lifetime duties, and maybe haven’t done as much together as you thought you had, would could possibly await? Imagine actually getting to know that person to whom you are married! And them getting to know you! Yikes!
During my teaching career I had the privilege of being a pension consultant for the Alberta Teachers Association. During one training session consultants had, the presenter, an old dude, asked us a question. “What do you think people over the age of 80 do?” Puzzled looks as well as the idea of living to 80 hadn’t crossed anyone’s mind, filled the silence in the room. The presenter put it simply.
“They look out of the window and watch the world go by.” When interviewing a colleague who was considering retirement, I asked him to describe what he did for hobbies. After some thought, he said that he liked to garden and for fitness run bait. His spouse had a different career and was still working in a different community. Now in northern Alberta, gardening is a short season, and once started, plants take care of themselves much of the day. Seeing how this fine soul was not a dedicated runner, I figured less than an hour was spent daily on both hobbies. After finding out he slept for an average of 6 hours a day, I asked him what he was going to do with the remaining 17 hours in his day? A quizzical look came my way. I then asked if his wife liked him and would want him around the house much of the time, when she retired? Well, a second quizzical look surfaced. He continued working, rather than retire.
If one is lucky enough to work part-time in the same career or transition to other work, the movement away from colleagues can indeed more smooth. If you are a member of the generation in their 60s or 70s, for many, a focus on work and career was everything. There was even a time, when mostly, mothers, stayed home to raise the kids, while fathers brought home the pay cheque. It could be easy to be dedicated to a career and assume all things were fine. And then one day, retirement appears on the horizon and it happens to you. Now what do you do?
As I approached my retirement in 2016, I was reflecting on that consultant presentation years ago. What did I need to consider? 80 years old and behind a window? I was only 62. There were hopefully 18 years to live before my Windex bottle and I became companions. Then the key phrase from that presentation came to mind: “Practice your retirement, before you retire.” My wife, having stopped working in 2006 was ready to move on to our next chapter. What would we do together? In reflecting on practising my retirement, what had I done that I would pursue further and include my wife?
The image of a belted kingfisher I saw while fishing at Hilda Lake for walleye with my father, back in the 60s came to mind. Seeing it nab that unsuspecting perch minnow in an instant, had set a hobby in motion that had not yet been acknowledged. Over the years while fishing I’d always been bird watching. In 2017, my first semi-serious camera was purchased and my walks into Cold Lake Provincial Park bore fruit with close ups of warblers, juncos, blue jays and sparrows that I could not name. I was thrilled to download photos and marvel at the joy of recognizing new species. It wasn’t long before Elaine, an avid outdoor child back in the 60s, got involved, and a second digital camera joined the first. Adventures in 2017 became a partnered experience. We would drive anywhere to explore, be patient, stay in hotels, and be in the outdoors, learning a wing at a time. Our travels eventually brought us to Chestermere. Elaine had fallen in love with the bird watching possibilities in southern half of the province and Chestermere was a fine location to travel to all points.
In reflecting about retirement, if you are fortunate to be able to retire, sometimes our answers about what to do with our freed time are embedded in our memories. That old dude, said that to do something wildly new, such as international travel, when one hasn’t done it all, may turn out to be a big disappointment. Imagine waiting to do something you think you’d like only to find out it wasn’t that thing. Do you remember Curly (Jack Palance) from the movie “City Slickers”? He said essentially you have to find that “one thing” and then you were set. Thanks old dude and Jack Palance. You speak the truth!
