Retirement

[Steve51]

I retired in 2008. I worked swing shift at an oil refinery most of my working life. We had many plans for retirement but most have never come to pass. My mother & my wife's mother both have alzeihmer's disease. We are both the oldest sibling in our families and their care falls on us. Both mothers are in facilities close to our home but we visit them several days each week.
Since we are tied down, my wife still works part time as the local librarian and I mow yards for elderly ladies and a man with cancer. My brothers live in distant states but one or the other will come and stay here for a week every year so my wife and I can have a get away.
I still get up at 5 AM each morning and we go for breakfast at the local diner at 7 AM. I really enjoy the early morning quiet and the sunrise.

I really enjoy retirement but like it or not, circumstances are a part of life and we can find simple joys if we really want to.

[BrokenolMarine]

Well, different from others I see, but retirement is not in my vocabulary, lol. Still work about 45-50 Hours a Week. But I work for myself and work at my own pace. If I need an easier day, I take it. If I want to quit a little early, I do it. Although normal quitting time is about 7:30 PM, lol. Have no plans of ever "retiring", that is as long as my health keeps up. Y'all's way seems more fun though. But that said, I basically really enjoy my work.

Someone I admired once told me: "Son, if you love the way you earn your living, you'll never have to 'work' a day in your life." He was really old from my ten or twelve year old perspective ... But he let me putter around his small gun shop, doing odd jobs for store credits now and then. I raked the leaves, swept up the outside walkways, and the floors inside. He let me watch him work on guns, from "THAT stool, but don't move, and don't ask your thousand questions if my loop is down, or a power tool is running."

i loved the feel of the shop, housed in a log cabin, set just off a two lane near the Withlacoohee river on Florida's Forgotten Coast. I loved the smell of the shop, gun oil, leather, and wood. The old man repaired guns, made custom leather slings, holsters, saddles even. Bought and sold used guns, and had a small selection of new stuff. A couple sofas attracted the retirees and story time was an adventure.

With a wink from the owner, and "Aw, go ahead, he's alright," the journeys into their pasts would begin. .. It was hard to believe that these old men, slow and fragile as they were, had once saved the world. World War II wasn't just history to them, it had been, their war.

When my stepfather was transferred, my old mentor gave me a single shot 22, older than my dad, and told me to stay out of trouble. Late at night, when insomnia takes me on the journeys through my past... I can once again smell the leather and gun oil, and taste the dust that constantly fell from that log ceiling. I miss him...

[JEBar]

I've retired 3 times .... the first time, after 30.02 years from NC's Prison System, at my retirement party, the Warden told me I'd be back .... I told her no way .... a few months later she called and I was back under a special program taking care of things for her .... at the same time I'd started working in a new field, the RV Industry .... for the next few years I was pretty busy .... the second time I retired from the Prison System, I was told I'd be back .... I told them no way and so far I haven't .... after 10+ years working in the, I decided it was time to retire .... I enjoyed both careers and in some ways still miss being active in both ... at this stage we are enjoying traveling and family .... we hope this stage will last for many years to come