“I flunked retirement”…

That’s from the book my wife bought as a retirement gift, Don’t Retire, Rewire!©.  After four-plus decades in technology sales, I retired February 25, 2022.  It was my 69^th birthday present to myself. 

I think my wife is concerned about the changes our relationship will encounter now that I am a full time husband for the very first time in our marriage.  Back to this passage from the book: 

The day I came home from work and discovered that my recently retired husband had rearranged the kitchen drawers, I knew we had a problem.  Susan 

In addition to the book and my birthday, there were several other memorable events that helped mark my retirement. For instance, in February Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL.  As it turned out, he too failed retirement and is returning to professional football.  

Coincidently just before I worked my last day at NetSuite the Oracle Slack Bot machine sent me an automated message insisting I retire my iPhone immediately because it no longer met the company’s security standards.  Evidently the machine knew I was carrying an iPhone5 which was issued in 2013!  No “oldies but goodies” at Oracle NetSuite.  But hey, you know… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” HaHa! 

When I retired I was overwhelmed with well wishes.  I spent the first several days just sending “Thank Yous”.  One gift I received came with a note card and this story: 

A man works for 50 years at one company.  He retires as CFO.  Every single day he arrived at 9, sat at his desk, slid open the top drawer, paused, then closed it and got to work.  His employees all wondered what was in the drawer.  The day he retired the new CFO gathered everyone in the office together to find out what was in the drawer.  As he slid the drawer open, they saw a simple legal pad that said, ‘Debits on the left, credits on the right!” 

Throughout my career I relied on mentors and teammates like the one who hand-wrote that note to keep my “debits and credits” straight. 

Another coincidence before my retirement was a webinar held by my alma matre, Knox College, discussing changes in collegiate athletics over the years.  At Knox College, athletic competition started in the late 1800’s with baseball, track, basketball, and football.  Back in those days they played major colleges and universities (aka “Division I”). Tiny Knox College football is 1-1 vs. Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish haven’t been willing to play a tie-breaker since.  But I digress… 

Harley Knosher was the basketball coach and Athletic Director (among many other duties) during my four years at Knox.  In fact, he was their Athletic Director for 32 years.  His predecessor, Dean Trevor, was the first Knox College Athletic Director, serving in that capacity for 39 years - those two spanned 71 years! 

Harley was a tremendous influence on me as an undergraduate.  He still is.  So I listened carefully when he was asked during the webinar, “ What advice would you give to a younger you?”  His response was simple and direct, as usual: 

            Spend more time at home.

I am following his sage advice.  

However, I have to confess; I may have retired from technology sales February 25^th but my “retirement” only lasted two business days.  Wednesday March 2^nd I became a Production Assistant at Thriving Pets International.  

 

Yep, now I’m working for my wife.  

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.