Welcome to this week’s blog hop, which I didn’t think I’d take part in as I thought I’d be on holiday at the van with my granddaughter. However, this has been postponed for a fortnight, and so… here’s the topic:
What’s something you look forward to as you age? And what do you miss from your youth?
Many people look forward to retirement as they grow older. However, trust me to buck the trend. I’m not yet ready to give up work altogether, although I have cut down on the hours I spend typing clinic letters. I still like to feel useful and needed in the workplace, and believe me, if you work for the NHS it doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 66, you are needed!
What I do look forward to is the chance to spend more time at the seaside in our caravan now that I’ve cut down on my working hours. We eventually aim to spend most of our time there during the summer when Sam retires in 6 years’ time, and so yes, I will retire when he does, but for now I still like to be productive and earn my own money for as long as I’m able to do so. However, sadly I think my eyes will be ready to retire in another 3 years (or maybe even sooner) when the state pension kicks in, and so I may be forced to withdraw from the workplace earlier than I’d hoped.
I figure that when I get too old and frail to enjoy life, I’ll also look forward to death. I haven’t yet met any old, frail person who doesn’t. My mother yearned for it after the age of about 86. The older I get, the more I can see her point of view.
And what do I miss from my youth? There’s an ever-growing list, but I’ll write down the major ones in no particular order – just as I think of them:
- A pre-cancer body free from scars and damage from surgeries.
- The ability to run without knee pain.
- Eyes that do not water.
- Hair that doesn’t need painting every 6 weeks.
- A natural and ready supply of oestrogen.
- A voice that doesn’t sound like a constipated corncrake.
- My babies, who are now hulking men.
- My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles… all now departed this life.
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Stevie Turner 
Interesting timing for me to read this post. I have one week to go before I’m officially retired and can write full-time. I’d planned to work another five years, but the job has turned into a soul-sucking abyss, and I’ve had enough. (Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be higher education adminstrators.)
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Happy retirement! Good for you for getting out early.
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Thank you, Stevie! I haven’t made a decision this good in a very long time.
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My list is similar to yours (though I don’t have cancer surgery scars – mine is from a caesarean) right down to eyes that water!
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The watery eyes are miserable! I’ve had 2 DCRs and the right one still waters. I’m going to see a consultant in September to see if he can do anything else.
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Don’t present yourself so old, Stevie! When I read the first few lines with your granddaughter, I thought that she might not be as internet savvy as you are. Dear granddaughter, Grandmother has no time now, she has to blog. That’s a great and refreshing statement. 🙂 Isnt it? xx Michael
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Cheers, Michael. I think my granddaughter is a bit more Internet savvy than I am, lol.
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Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Good list. We all pine for all the good things most of us took for granted ❤
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Yes, and we didn’t know how good it all was at the time. x
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True x
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Pingback: Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Wednesday August 4th 2021 – #Youth #Age Stevie Turner, #Dumfries Robbie Cheadle, #Tartine Dorothy’s Vintage Kitchen | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
Thanks Sally! x
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Thanks Sally. x
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I decided it was time to retire when I realized I wasn’t having fun anymore at the job I loved. I’m sure all the extra work we had to do because of Covid was part of it. Nut I informed my boss, and now I can start ticking down the months until it’s official.
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Oh, good luck in your retirement! I downgraded to avoid stress, and am happy with just typing and nothing else. The grade above where I was before had phone interruptions every couple of minutes, mountains of admin, annual leave and study leave for doctors to sort out, booking appointments for patients, and a thousand and one other things as well as typing clinic letters.
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My mother’s family lives into their 90-100s, so I’m prepared for another +30 years. I guess that may be why I don’t have any big plans for retirement. I’m not sure I’ll retire at 67 (still more than six years out). I just don’t know how long middle-age lasts for my family, so making plans is perhaps not the best idea. In the US, we have Social Security, a government pension, but it’s not (and was never intended) to be enough to live on and it was so haphazardly funded, I suspect it’ll not exist when I retire. So, I have a private retirement account that has done pretty well, but if the government keeps jacking the economy around, it may be worthless. So, yeah — retirement will come, but when — I’m not convinced it’ll be anytime this decade. And, I’m okay with that. In Alaska, you need something to do or the winters will drive you mad.
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I can imagine those cold, dark winters and I shudder. I’d like to keep working for as long as I can, but I’m not sure how much longer my eyes will be good enough to stare at a screen for 8 hours a day.
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I’ve been blessed with good eyesight and I no longer do transcription, so my hearing is doing okay.
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Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Thanks for the re-blog, Lela.
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Because I worked part-time for the final four years of my working life, I’ve found retirement to be similar, just with me doing what I want instead of what I have to.
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Sounds good. Sam informs me that once he’s retired he will never repair another thing for as long as he lives. He’s spent his whole working life fixing machinery, and wants to take up gardening instead, lol.
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Quite an interesting topic. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this, Stevie. I like the person I’ve become, but I regret taking so long to get here.
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Glad you’re happy, Pete. It takes a long time for us to be comfortable in our own skins.
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Pretty similar list. Spending time at the seaside in your caravan also sounds like a fabulous idea.
Tweeted.
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It is, especially in warm summer weather!
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An interesting list Stevie and I get the bit about not particularly wanting to be frail and dependent on other people… also on retirement.. I may have left the mainstream workforce but I doubt I will ever retire from what I now do. They will have to carry me out kicking and screaming with the keyboard clamped in my fist. Food for thought…hugsx
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Yes, I’ll carry on writing well into old age to keep my brain occupied. Goodness knows what Sam will do when he retires… I expect he’ll follow me around like a duckling, lol. x
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Well there will be a story in that…lol..xxx
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Undoubtedly!
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Being old, I like not being so concerned about what I wear and what people think of me. I didn’t anticipate that though. What I did anticpate with relish was being able to retire. I think I was just 30 years old when I started to look forward to that day.
I miss two things about being young. Energy, and anticipation. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I still have a good amount of energy fortunately. I found out it was sugary foodstuffs that took it away.
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