Chapter 123 : Retired

In 2016 most days were pretty normal. Including a Wednesday in October.  I followed my normal routine. I went to work in my dental practice; in the evening I played tennis; then I went home and went to bed. A pretty normal day.

I woke up two weeks later lying on my back in a bed in the RHH.

I immediately thought, “I am doing nothing. The work will be piling up. I’d better get back to work.”  

I was then told. “You aren’t going back to work. You are now retired.”

In the next few weeks my wife spent a lot of time visiting her now retired husband. One day she showed me a piece of paper and asked me to sign it. This I did.

She then said, “You have just sold your dental practice.”

After selling my practice I lay back in bed.

My mind thought about the shower. How do I use it? Is this tap hot or cold? How can I shower without this nurse coming and watching me?

I thought about shaving. I don’t want a beard. I don’t want to shave. I’ve got to work out when and how to shave?

I also thought about being retired. What does that mean? What does it involve?

I listened to the word retired and the way it was used. 

The word retired was always followed by another word saying what I used to do.  It ignored my future. It ignored where I wanted to go. It thought the best years were all behind me; I was just sitting around waiting to die. It is like being at university and continually described by the secondary school I attended.

The word retired looked backwards and contained the word tired.  It told me to sit quietly. Don’t make a fuss. Take these tablets. They’ll make you feel better. Be careful crossing the road.

After continually hearing the word retired I decided I didn’t want to be called retired and treated the way everybody treated retired people.

I tried to treat other people as unique individuals. I tried to treat them with respect. I abhor stereotypes.  When I met people I don’t think of a stereotype based on age, sex, sexuality, physical or mental disability, race, appearance, education, clothes.

I try to celebrate all the people I met.  They are all unique and different. They are unique individuals with a unique history; a unique view of the world; a unique future. I assume that everybody I meet will do the right or wrong thing or a combination. They will vary from day to day and during every day for reasons I can’t see or understand. They will be full of virtues and foibles.

I have realised I hate being described as retired. I hate the way the word is used and everything it means. Eventually I realised I have to live with the word retirement. I can’t avoid it. When I use the word I will change the meaning of it.

Other words have a meaning that grows or changes. Like words such as YMCA, Qantas, surf, mouse and friend. For me the word retirement will mean freedom.

Traditionally the word freedom has meant Bob Dylan; Easy Rider; guitars, backpacking; jeans and boots. With the soundtrack playing Janis Joplin singing “Me and Bobby McGee.”  

Well I’ve been both young and old and being old is the freest I have even been. When I was young I never felt as free as now. When wearing jeans and tie-die t-shirts I was always aware of things I had to achieve or do. I had to pass another exam; get a job; buy a house; go to parent teacher interviews.

Freedom belongs to us baby boomers; grey nomads; tracksuits; running shoes; campervans; mobile homes; and deck chairs. The soundtrack is John Farnham; Jimmy Barnes; Golden Oldies or Hits and Memories. 

We are the free people. We are footloose and fancy free. We are the people who can do anything we want.