Retirement Isn’t for Everyone

To the Editor: 
Ask the wives, they will tell you the truth. Many of their retired husbands are going south on them right before their eyes, once vital and vigorous, now the shells of their former selves.
It usually starts out by being a royal pain. The intelligence once used to be successfully employed is now being used to criticize and complain. They’re spending just too much time at home. Golf and travel haven’t provided the needed outlets they dreamed about. They’re glued to Fox News.
I am frequently asked by some when I plan to retire. There is a lot of jealousy in their inquiries. It’s almost like when are you going to join the miserable lot? One woman, married for more than 50 years, revealed to me that once her spouse caught up with her honey-do list of domestic chores, he then went downhill. There was even talk of divorce.  Their son-in-law saved the day by getting his father-in-law a job driving a township school bus. It had a tonic effect. It got him out of the house.
Being engaged in what I created 58 years ago beats taking a fistful of medications.  There is still a little spring in my step when I dress in the morning for work. My Saturday night dinner date with my wife has the feeling of a reward for still being productive. My recreational pastimes are looked forward to because they are a needed break from real work.
Being gainfully employed means that this old timer keeps in shape mentally and physically. I hit the gym like a recruited stud athlete. I peruse professional journals to stay current. I continue my relationships with the young to capture a little of their capriciousness, energy, and truculence.
My office abuts a funeral parlor.  There is a real chance that I may expire someday as I sit at my desk counseling a young college prospect as to his future and then being carried right over to Kish’s for burial.
No, I need no occupational life coach for me to realize that I am not an apt candidate for retirement.  I applaud those who had the wisdom and resources to make retirement work for them. They are truly blessed.