I hope you are preparing well for your retirement, Cat. In Ireland they run courses for retirees. I think I told you that before. The nurses who worked with me for their whole career attended but in my case it wasn’t necessary. I had had a 19 year career break. A friend phoned me a couple of nights ago. I met up with her and a few others this time last year and we had lost contact since. She was just coming near retirement when we last spoke and like you, she had mixed feelings. Long story short, she told me she feels a great sense of relief now and like most people say, after they retire, it was only when she didn’t have to work any longer that she realised how much she had been pushing herself in the last few months. I felt the same. My health was going down because when I worked I gave it 100%. Compulsive to the finger tips! lol!
I look on my retirement as a holiday, Cat. I miss work and three or four staff keep in touch with me. One, on a daily basis would you believe ! She tells me all the nonsense that goes on and sometimes I feel I would love to be caught up in all the drama (it’s like a Carry On film at times) but it’s good to be able to stand back and say “Thank God I don’t have to face this stress anymore”. As we get older we can live on very little Cat. We have a garden with produce that would certainly keep us alive and healthy for years but of course I add the unhealthy foods which put nails in my coffin. One of these days, I will cut out ALL the junk and stick to the natural food. Having grandchildren keeps a person young. My sister is nine years older than me. She has lots of grandchildren She minds kids in her own home (still) for cash and always has some of the grand babies at weekends. Superwoman! Personally, I think she’s daft but it keeps her fit.
You will be a doting granny to your G children Cat and as you spend more time with them, you will ask yourself why you didn’t retire sooner!
