Thursday, April 26, 2012

Long Days, Lonely Afternoons


As my readers and friends know, I have long been working with the idea of retirement.  Last year I talked with a planner on the psychological profile portion of my retirement.  He was not particularly good at it and I felt that I was feeding all of the questions and answers to him.  However, the big concern for me was filling in my days with meaningful things to do particularly if I was going to retire earlier than 65 which would mean most of my friends would still be working.  I think my friends were wondering why I was so worried but I can tell you this morning that “rightfully so” is my response.

      Why, you ask.  Because several times this week my mother has said to me “it’s a long day” and when I asked her what she meant she said there was still long stretches of time when she was alone (this despite having a very busy social calendar this week).  As she had said it earlier this week I sent out an email to my siblings and boom!  All of them showed up yesterday to keep her company which she loved (and of course I haven’t told her that I sent out the note) but despite the company, and as luck would have it I wasn’t home until 7 due to a hair appointment, it was still “a long day”.

      Here I am this morning wondering what I can do about this to help my mother, but also I am thinking “and what will it be like for me when I am home all day”?  So, my friends, take heed.  Develop some meaningful hobbies for your retirement years.  I was thinking after the election on Monday that one of my hobbies is going to be Political Activist.  Now there’s a thought, perhaps I could start off experimenting with my mother.  She is already very current with all the news and she particularly loves politics so I should get her to take notes (and just thinking about her potential notes has me giggling) and then we could collaborate at the end of the day.  Historical notes include “Susanne was ill.”  Recipe – Sand cake, add 2 cups of flower . . . the teacher phoned my mother to ask if she was serious.  Not joking.  Imagine the possibilities of Mom writing down political jargon.  I’m going to be laughing all night.

      Today my mother is getting an outing with her grandson who has to go to the police station to get a police check for his teaching certificate.  I hope she gets to go right into the station at High River because it is always bustling with activity.  That will give her some scope for today’s chat.

      On an aside, Christopher got a job confirmation about 30 seconds after he got his final mark on his final course.  He’s in heaven and we are right there beside him on Cloud 9.  Starts May 1st, could anything be better?

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