Today is my 181st day of retirement, as 6 months have now gone by in a flash.  Admittedly, there were some initial concerns on how I would manage my time, transitioning from the workforce to the sidelines.  However, I’ve found that I like to be on the outside looking in.  I enjoy watching people going off to work, while I reflect on my 17 years of education and 48 years on the job.  There was some overlap between the two responsibilities, including work at an irrigation company, an assembly plant, the Indiana University Library,  and a Styrofoam factory, before I finally settled into my full-time career track.  I remember how relieved I was to get through with school, and how excited I was when I got my first full-time job in the newspaper business.

School seemed to go on forever.  Recess was always welcome and summer breaks were never long enough.  The pressure of homework, tests, competing with fellow students for recognition, and just making it to class on time was overwhelming.   The long, hot summer breaks would eventually get boring, so going back to school was a welcome relief, at least for a few days.  It was great to get reacquainted with old friends,  meet your new teachers, check out the cafeteria food, and learn to navigate unfamiliar hallways.  However, the newness wore off quickly, and I began to look ahead to next summer.  This cycle continued for 17 long years, many more for those that went on for a Masters and Doctorate degree.  Many worked part-time jobs while completing their studies, and then found that most of their full-time paychecks went to offset these massive educational debts.  Fortunately, I was not faced with this dilemma.

The part-time job I was doing through graduation turned into a full-time position, but it was not what I had studied to be.  I was married by then, and we already had a son, so not working was never an option.   I was soon able to find an entry-level advertising position, but only after a layoff left me temporarily jobless.  It was a scary time, but I learned to tolerate the ups and downs associated with the job market.  I was taught to be loyal to my employer by my father, who only worked for one company his entire life.  He was always helpful in my times of need, and I’ve tried to pay it forward.  However, I quickly learned that times had changed in the employment world, and the only way to get ahead was to move from job-to-job.  In some cases, that also required relocating to a new city.

In the first 12 years of my career, I worked in three different cities within a hundred mile radius of where I was raised.  Two different companies were involved, but because I was re-hired by the first, I spent nearly 10 of those years with the same employer.  The initial move away for a slightly higher salary allowed me to negotiate a substantial raise when I returned.  This was a pattern I would follow throughout my career, foregoing meaningless cost-of-living raises in favor of promotions to better positions or larger markets.  I began to spread my wings, moving to Ft. Wayne and then Indianapolis for more income.  In the process, I also transitioned from commission-based sales jobs into salary-plus- bonus management positions, eventually becoming a General Manager, the top position in my profession.  At this peak point in my career, I was responsible for over 150 people who always wanted more money and fewer hours.

About 10 years ago, as the media business began to evolve even more, my wife’s career became paramount.  Due to an ownership change, I was out of a job for the first time in over 30 years, and felt the same bitter emotions as during the layoff I experienced early in life.  I had been loyal to this particular company for nearly 20 years, an exceptional accomplishment in the ever-changing media world.  On the positive side, the company was able to find a great position for my wife in Austin, Texas, so I spent the final 10 years of my career doing three different jobs in two separate cities, as she continued to collect promotions.  As a welcome consolation prize, they did provide me with a lifetime pension to reward my loyalty. This pension, that exists even though they’ve been sold twice, is what has allowed me to enjoy retirement today.  I will be forever grateful, but I wish there would have been a  way to keep me involved.

The last 10 years of employment were clearly the toughest for me.  I had been derailed from my career path, and had to start-over again twice in unfamiliar cities.  This came as a result of my wife’s promotion and transfer from Austin, Texas to Portland, Oregon, where we currently live.  My career took a step back into commission-based sales, and I missed the involvement in management decisions.  It was hard to be on someone else’s team, and not running the team myself!  My wife, however, continues to prosper, with at least five years before she will retire.  As she comes home from work each day and shares her experiences, it reminds me how lucky I am to be retired. I fully expected to miss the office, but instead I enjoy the freedom of retirement.  I haven’t looked back in these first six months, and I’ve been able to keep myself very busy.  I maintain good memories of school and work, but I’ve also made much greater ones in these first 181 days.  To quote The Beatles, “you have to admit it’s getting better…getting better all the time.”