I Retired!

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I’m retired now.  My last day of work was June 30, and my last paycheck will be August 31.

On the day I retired, my husband and I were sitting in the kitchen at home when a van stopped in front of our house and the driver handed me these phenomenal flowers as a gift from my school, the Bronx Charter Schools for Better Learning.  I was so surprised!  They’re stunning!

Then I said to my husband, “It’s funny, but about a week ago I sent a mass email to the entire staff, saying I had enjoyed working with them for so many years and hoped to stay in touch.  It’s strange, but only two or three colleagues responded to my farewell email.”

About a half hour later, a FedEx van stopped in front of our house, and the driver gave me a huge, bulging envelope.  I opened it and poured all the contents on the kitchen table.

Greeting cards!  Farewell, Happy Retirement, Enjoy Life, We’ll Miss You!

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All the cards had multiple signatures and short notes from the people I had worked with over the years.  They were amazing!  Thank you to everyone at BBL!

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And now, you may be wondering what I’ve been up to as a free man.  Unfortunately, health issues have dominated these past two months.  A few days after June 30, my husband came down with Covid, then I got it, too.  For the first four-five days I felt extremely sick, with every day bringing a new set of symptoms:  one day severe sore throat, the next day uncontrollable coughing to the point that my ribs ached.

After I got through with that, I started training again for swim races and other athletic pursuits, all part of my way of countering Parkinson’s.  I worked out at the gym; I continued with my ping-pong lessons; I swam in our town’s terrific pool (25 meters and always a lane to myself – I average about 2000 meters per workout, or about 1.25 miles).

Then I fell (due to my Parkinson’s festinating gait) and injured my knee.  The knee cap is OK, but the tendons under and around it are in a lot of pain.  So I’m going to physical therapy once or twice a week to help the knee heal.  The therapist has booked me through the end of September.

Because of these medical mishaps, I haven’t been able to publish anything on this blog.  I hope to change that soon – I’ve received multiple suggestions to beef up the Resources section of the site.  And I have lots of research I’ve been reading that I’d like to share here.

More anon!  Best wishes to everyone!