At the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. I could do museum work...
At the tender age of 56, I have an eye on September 15, 2034, as my last day of everyday career employment, but not necessarily my last day of work. Funny that I would be writing this on the last day of work before the winter holiday break!
So what will I do with my free time? Dave and I, in addition to our old-people affection for porches, house projects, and whatnot, have started to discuss what we are going to do with ourselves once we hand in our keys.
The simplest one for me is judging will probably occupy most of my free time, from test sessions to finally making it to those high school events in the Detroit area that I can't do during the week. Maybe that will compel me to travel more and actually allow clubs to put me up in hotels so I can take my time in areas I'm visiting instead of rushing back home.
I also look to my mother-in-law for inspiration. She is a volunteer docent at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, working once a week. She enjoys the kids and educating them on things like fossils, vintage toys, and plants. I would love to be a docent at the GRAM, talk about abstract expressionism or take people through craft projects.
Or maybe like my mom, who, after retiring, went to work at the library to catalog books and teach genealogy. While that is not my bag, I would love to be involved in story time, maybe take on an elder Laura Ingalls persona, teach kids old-timey skills, and let them dream about adventure.
Or take an easy-pay, low-risk, couple of hours a day job, prepping and feeding kids at lunch at the high school.
It's going to be interesting to explore retirement "careers" in the next few years. I don't see either one of us idly sitting on our hands watching TV. But slowing down does seem like a dream come true.
No comments:
Post a Comment