"How's your retirement going?" If you have bumped into me somewhere recently, you probably began our conversation that way. Either that, or you told me how much you loved Rowan Grace Gilhooly's pictures on my Facebook page. (This, of course, relates directly to "how's retirement going" !)
Okay, maybe you were just being polite.
But it has happened often enough that I sometimes wish I had an 8 x 11 hand-out I could share. Consider this post that.
- I am glad you asked. Really. This is a big deal for me. I would love to be nonchalant about it, but after 40+ years on the job, I am still working on my new rhythm.
- I was disappointed by the performance of the Episcopal church as I headed out the door. I know institutions can't love you, but I would have thought that my 34 years there might have earned me a little more respect. I wish Good Shepherd had been allowed to grow into and through the promised search process.
- It is good to have a hobby when you retire. Or a part time job. Or both. I can now go to all of those meetings the President of the West Lafayette City Council used to skip because I had a day job. Everyone seems happy enough to have me around. There are sometimes free lunches.
- You get a new sense of, a new appreciation for, your family. You have more time. I trail my spouse to more of her Food Finder events (and her class) and can admire how well she does a very difficult job. Rowan is bright and funny and pretty, which makes us remember how bright and funny and pretty is her mother Emily. Molly's New Year's Day open house was a mashup of Polish neighbors, old friends from here, and millennial artists and musicians. Cool.
- My retirement has inspired Katy to firm up her retirement plans. (It is exhausting to raise millions of dollars every year.) My wife is a Purdue "Subject Matter Expert" in non-profit management teaching in the COM department. This could become part of her exit strategy from Food Finders.
- We're attending (sporadically) Our Savior Lutheran now. Given the church's decades long connection to Sonya Margerum, it feels vaguely like the West Lafayette Democratic party at prayer. It is very comfortable. Pastor Randy Schroeder, their recent call, is down to earth. I had He Qi prints in my office for years. They have He Qi prints on the walls. Our Savior reminds me of the catholic church I grew up in 40+ years ago.
