Retirement: Work, Friends and the Police Academy?

by Jenny

Born in 1938, I retired at 65 from a job as the manager of a bed and breakfast, bar and restaurant complex in a tourist-destination city.

I did not want full-time employment any longer but I did want part-time work if I could find it. Luckily I was able to take advantage of my contacts in the hotel business who steered me to a part-time job opening that required only one day a week as a PBX operator in a hotel.

Soon after I started, I was offered more hours, which turned into 24 hours a week. That was still fine, giving me four days a week to "do my own thing".

I applied and was chosen as a volunteer to serve on my city's Citizen Review Board, which meets once a month to review and make decisions regarding citizen complaints against members of the city's police department. It required training in a citizen police academy, which meant attending classes and lectures and some demonstrations of tasers, etc. The position also requires time in order to review files, policies and procedures but it also requires members like myself to do "ride alongs" occasionally with an officer in a police cruiser.

Also, I have friends my age who are not as agile or able as I am, and I am becoming a designated driver for their shopping trips and doctors visits. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of caring for my long-time friends. They pay me back with their affection, their wonderful baking treats and their pleasant company. We enjoy going out to dinner together at least once a week, martinis and all!

For me, one of life's enjoyments in retirement is a to linger over my morning cup of coffee and two of our daily newspapers, which I can now read from cover to cover. My two pug dogs are on either side of me, snoring gently. Before retirement, I was always rushing off to the office after gulping down breakfast, with the two bug-eyed pugs staring at me as if to say "You're leaving us, again?"

Life is good.

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