I taught school for 30 years, until the year 2000. At that point, I was eligible to retire in the state of Virginia, and it just crossed my mind, do I want to continue teaching or not? I felt like I was at the top of my career at that time, but I have also seen teachers that were a good bit older than I was at the time and I always said, let’s have teachers that are really on top of it. And that’s where I felt like I was, but maybe there are other things I’d enjoy doing, too. I thoroughly loved the kids, teaching. 

Even before I retired, several coaches from Eastern Mennonite University came and talked to me about being a support person in the athletic department at EMU.  As I looked at the situation, I discovered I would have work study kids under me. It was kind of like having a class again. And so I’ve done that for seven years now, and thoroughly enjoy the young adults. It’s like my class. I put my time and energy into that. – Phil Guengerich

 

I helped friends of mine who had been retired much longer than me and waited until they were in their 70s to make a move. It was very difficult for them. I’m not sure that their move would have been as pleasant as it was if there hadn’t been those of us who chipped in and kind of organized it and ran their moving. I didn’t want to do that. I thought I should do things while I’m physically able and not be as dependent on someone else to get me settled.

 We have within the community college here, a very organized College for Older Adults. You can take anything from studying opera to studying personality types, to local history. I am taking a course, Beyond Basic Computers. I certainly worked with a computer before I retired, but here you get a chance to explore other factions of a PC.

I’ve always been active. I have been a scuba diver for years and I continue to do that. I have traveled a lot, domestically and internationally, but now when I travel, it’s to visit people that I care a lot about. I’m adamant about not filling my time to the point where I have to keep a schedule. I did that for so long. Solitude is very good for me, and I don’t have a problem with it at all, quite the contrary. If I don’t get a certain amount of solitude, I get cranky. So I’m not one that’s going to fill up my every moment of every day.  - Rebecca Harrington

These comments were taken from original interviews for the Embracing Aging documentary and have been paraphrased slightly for readability.

What have you chosen to do with your retirement years?  Share your stories at Tell Your Story.