How fortunate to be able to be so selfish with my time. Put in 31 years of teaching middle school and many would say that these selfish years were earned. But with my inner conversations, I still feel a pang of guilt. I was lucky to choose a profession that had a pension at the end of it. Starting out in 1989 with the smile inducing salary of $16,700, I had no clue as to the reward beaming brightly at the end of my tenure. Happiness was having a satisfying, challenging job, paying bills, having summers off and a fresh start every fall. It wasn't until I was about 10 years away from retirement that I became aware of the nest egg I had built up. The reward is being spent as we speak. If only I could relay this information to my children about saving/choosing for an enjoyable future, but they seem to think very short term and understandably so. But with all the information and opportunity out there, I wish different decisions could be reached. As George Bernard Shaw put it, "youth is wasted on the young." I will sit here drinking good whiskey, coffee, beer, watch the birds, swim and boat in a warm and vast lake, hike the forests of the east, bike the numerous trails around southern Vermont, putz around the cabin and ponder the life I've lived. Left to right: goldfinches, Mt. Monadnock in NH from a firetower, weird tree-both trunks are rooted, typical bridge in a local preserve.
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Retired Educator
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