I'm applying for retirement, not because I want to stop working, but because I want to continue working but not full time. I need the pension, since I'm still paying on the mortgage on my house. Still, this will be a big move. I just saw Ringo Starr on television, talking with Diane Sawyer on his 70th birthday. He said when we're in our twenties we never think we're ever going to be as old as 70. Well, I'm not there yet, but I do wonder sometimes how I ever got to be as old as I am!
I have a list of things I want to do after retirement: volunteer on fund drives for my favorite radio station (WAMC in Albany), offer my services to the local public library and/or elementary school to read to children (and listen to the children read), get back to basket weaving, spend more time playing my dulcimer and my piano. Friends who are retired, though, say that their time gets filled with many other things. So maybe the adventures I discover after retirement will be surprises. That's okay too.
Reaching a milestone like retirement makes me wonder at life's brevity, its meaning, what I might do to make a difference with the time I have left. I have been a teacher and a minister, and I know I've affected many other people's lives. I constantly have the feeling that I haven't done nearly as much as I might have, but it's hard in the midst of life to know how it has all stacked up. I guess all I can do is keep trying, and keep praying that I'll continue to grow in grace and in faith, as long as I live.
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