My Mother frequently counselled me not to wish my life away but of course I ignored the advice. Finish school, move on from student life at polytechnic to Sandhurst and a career in the Army. In the Army life always moved on, the next posting to forward the career interspersed with marriage and children. All these were periods of life and events I, and after marriage to Carol, we looked forward to, in effect wishing our life away.
With children grown up and flown the nest long ago and the arrival of a grandchild a new phase of life seemed to be beckoning. For Carol if manifested itself in changes at the school she taught and disenchant with education as a profession and for me participating in yet another round of expensive IT delivery failures resulting in a feeling of dissatisfaction. Retirement was calling and like many things in life it seemed to be a long time in coming. Yet again we were wishing our lives away but hopefully for the last time.
We took the decision over a year ago about the timing when both Carol and I moved to a 4 day working week and set April 2019 as the target date for retirement. Working 4 days a week was revelation, extra day made a huge difference to our domestic and social arrangements. Every week end could be a long week end, Saturdays free of the need to provision ourselves and Sunday no longer a rush to get ready for the next working week. However, a year is a long time ans yet again we were wishing our life away.
It was with glee that just before Easter I ironed 5 business shirts, my 5 least favourite shirts, one for each day of my remaining work life, each to be discarded in the bin or patchwork box after wearing. I have had to iron shirts throughout my working life, first in the Army and then in business a pressed shirt was one of many symbols of care about appearance that seemed to matter. To be fair Carol ironed more than her fair share. Dispensing with he shirts represents leaving the my work life behind.
Rolling Into Retirement With Betsy 