Col#254- 8/18/25
RETIREMENT RETROSPECTIVE
By
Richard Davis
Retirement is a strange concept. For some people it is not something that is in their vocabulary and, for others, it is something that makes them count the days until the new phase of their life begins. If your life’s work and your passion for what you do blend perfectly then it seems likely that you don’t want the kind of life you lead to end. Working under other people’s rules tends to make many people long for a new kind of freedom.
It has been ten years since I mostly walked away from a 45 year nursing career. I enjoyed the ride and it turned out that the last job I had was the most satisfying in many ways. But working within the American health care system, no matter where, can wear you down and make you feel like you are not doing the best you can for your patients.
During that 45 years I was always acutely aware of the fact that our health system did not provide enough for the people of this country. The model is based on the idea that health care should be a product to be delivered and not a human right. I worked for many years to try to move to bend the needle toward the human right direction, but progress has been slow and barely detectable.
Did I give up the fight when I left my last job? No. I still try to make people aware of the inequality in our delivery of health care but those efforts have been scaled back. I do hold out hope that the younger people among us will continue the good fight. Retirement doesn’t mean giving up. It means supporting those who do the heavy lifting and providing them with the historical perspective they need to forge ahead.
One of the sad things about retirement is that our society loses the wisdom that people accumulate over a lifetime. Older people are not honored in our society and our culture pays homage to youth and beauty at the expense of tapping the experience of our elders.
I have not given up on the world and I have continued to offer what I can. Retirement gives you the opportunity to move in directions that would not have been possible during your day to day working years. I have run a local non-profit for the past 25 years and when I retired my work intensified.
And just because I do not work formally as a nurse doesn’t mean I can’t offer to use what I know about health care. I continue writing on the topic and I have been the town health officer in Guilford for a number of years.
When you have time to do whatever you want (and of course enough money to support the retirement lifestyle) I believe you have an obligation to find ways to give back to society in whatever capacity you can. If you were a plumber or an electrician why not become a part-time teacher and share your experience?
The other endeavor for retirees could be politics. Older people who run for office, at any level, can bring a lot to the job. For some it may be more than they can commit to, but for others, it can be the beginning of a new life. The best of retirement is when the door opens to that new life and you make the effort to walk through it.
