Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Why I retired

I was sitting in my temporary office, working the child abuse hotlines, trying to explain to a school principal why she could not make her referral to us anonymously, when I heard The News. There was a new, long anticipated retirement package being offered.

After some quick arithmetic, it dawned on me that this time I actually qualified. I was ecstatic! I did a mental happy dance, added up my life savings in my head, figured out to the tenth of a cent how much I would need to live on per month, wondered if I would have to return to my own office in the meantime, and decided life was very good. I was momentarily stunned by the news, but quickly recovered. I never looked back.

My life from that point became a plan for the Last Day, which would appropriately fall on Halloween. I had five months to work, possibly for the rest of my life.

An excited co-worker asked me if I was going to accept the offer. Having worked for the government for 27 years, I answered immediately and without hesitation. "I don't know. Maybe."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The day I retired must've fell on April Fool's Day. I've worked more now than I did before retiring.

Anonymous said...

Some of us will never be able to afford to retire!
  Happy Belated first year Anniversary!
                     *** Coy ***