Three years ago, my life got a whole lot more colorful. Three years ago I retired from my full-time career of 35 years. My husband had already retired from his career a couple years prior and was patiently waiting for me to come and play. Making the decision to retire is not for the faint of heart, especially if you had a career that you enjoyed. I was a registered nurse for my entire career, spending the last 15 years in nursing education. While I really enjoyed most of my career, eventually the long meetings and cyclic issues got annoying instead of challenging and you know it is time to leave the work to the next generation who are excited to move in.
Excerpt from my journal on Friday, June 21, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.:
I walked the halls of North Idaho College Health & Sciences Building one last time. I did a final memory lane tour: the auditorium that I taught countless lectures in, the Learning Lab that I guided nervous nursing students through skills, the Simulation Center that I consulted with the architect to build, the conference room where we had countless boring, occasionally heated, sometimes productive and always long meetings, the staff kitchen/lunch room where I poured numerous cups of coffee and caught up on co-workers’ lives.
My office is clean and I am still waiting for the last of my 18,000+ emails to delete. I moved into this office when the building was first built and I have been the only one to occupy it, until next fall when it is passed on to the next director of nursing. It is time.
Cleaning out drawers and electronic records brought a flood of memories. It has been a great career, but it has taken its’ tole on me. Especially these last 3 ½ years as the Director of the Nursing Program. Goodbye North Idaho College. I have been proud of my job. I received more than I have given and hopefully affected other’s lives in a positive way. Shutting down this computer in office #260 of the Health & Science Building one last time.
On my last day I locked the door and headed to my car with tears in my eyes. It was the only car left in the lot at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday during the summer. It was decorated with balloons, red roses and a big banner! My thoughtful husband and sister knew it would be tough walking out the doors one last time. The weight of sadness was quickly replaced with a wonderful sense of euphoria and freedom. And suddently my life got more colorful. In closing that door, my life went from this,
To this:
After I left work that last day, the doors of freedom opened wide. Beyond those doors were lots of open days with colorful things to do. There is no doubt that retirement is an adjustment, but is also the opportunity of our lives. It is a journey waiting to happen and we are the artists of it. This blog will focus on transforming our careers into a retirement adventure. Remember that brand new 64 pack crayon box you wanted as a kid; bonus if it came with a sharpener in it? Well, opening up that new crayon box for the first time is what retirement is like. We get to create and color in our days the way we want. The possibilities are endless so lets start coloring outside the lines!
