I can't remember if I have previously written about this but I love this memory and want to be sure it's in the blog.
When I went back to California in 1986, there was an older guy who had a business next door making top of the line office furniture. His name was Norm and at the time I was still in my 30's, Norm was retired from 25 years with and aerospace company so he was at least in his 60's. He had a heart condition but didn't let it stop him from anything he wanted to do. We became good friends and spent a good deal of time solving the world's problems.
I was a workaholic back then but Norm put me to shame, when I got to work at 7:00 am he had been there since 5:30am. When I went home at 5:30 or 6:00 he was still at work and when I would come in to check on something on a Saturday Norm would be at his desk.
One of the things Norm Talked about was the fact that he was retired, after hearing him say this on several occasions I finally pointed out all of the hours and days that I found him at work. I told him it didn't seem to me that he was retired. It was at this time that Norm gave me an education on the meaning of retirement.
He went on to explain to me that he worked 25 years for Aerojet and hated every minute but it paid the bills. and allowed him to raise a family and put a few dollars in the bank. When he finally got to the point that he could retire he found something that he wanted to do, something that gave him a reason for getting out of bed every morning, building office furniture was it and he enjoyed it.
So, according to Norm, the true meaning of retirement was that you quit doing something you didn't like doing and started doing something that you liked.
I got laid off from a job back in 2007 or 8, I searched for a new job but the economy was not very good and jobs were hard to find so Linda told me to just retire - I did. I stumbled around for a time looking for something to keep me interested. I work in my shop making things from wood, sometimes I just make sawdust. Linda and I would take day trips now and again till she got sick. Kay and I shoot pool and take trips, go fishing and generally do things that make us want to get out of bed in the morning. We are doing something that makes us happy.
