We wrote about retirement a few years ago. Since then, retirement has continued to surprise us. So, we thought it was an ideal time for an update. Also, we have some new NACTT Emeritus Trustees! We thank Jan Hamilton for taking the lead.
Jan Hamilton
I will say I lived my life to the fullest during my working years. In my early 40s, I decided I would try to do all the things I would do in retirement, just in case retirement didn’t come or came in a different manner than I expected. No regrets there!!
I did “retire” at age 74, but I am glad I retained my law license.
I have enjoyed the mediation and light lawyering work I’ve done, which has been on an occasional if-I-want-to-basis. Keeping the brain alive in retirement is just as important as keeping the body from imploding.
For me the pleasures of retirement are many. Some have been a long time coming, but among them are:
- No stress. Say goodbye to cortisol. I hit the ball hard for lots of years. It is nice to be in the stands now.
- Leisure coffee in the mornings in my sunroom.
- Quality time with Barbara who is the gift of the universe to me.
- Quality time with my dogs, Lucy, and Lucas…Lots of visits to Bark Park.
- Quality time with grandkids. (Not too much! They wear me out!!)
- Actually, making my bed in the morning.
- Fixing myself a nice breakfast. No more snack bars with crumbs spilling into my lap on the interstate.
- Cooking for myself, Barbara, my neighbors, and my kids.
- Listening to music all day long. Pandora is my almost best friend…
- Not driving fast . . . anywhere. Road rage is but a distant memory.
- Learning that time alone is not time being lonely.
- Reconnecting with my brother and old friends.
- Posting whatever I want on Facebook.
- Reading all the off-the-wall stuff I want. “My Big Toe”, “The Discoverers”, “Ultimate Light Backpacking Tips”, “The Tightwad Gazette”, books on foraging, surviving, Jerusalem artichokes… Every day, a new rabbit hole to go down. For me, life is full of “What ifs”, “What fors” and “I wonder….”
- Having the time to do all the stuff I am supposed to do to recover from broken bones and various surgeries.
- Time to experiment with making yogurt, drying food, and repairing stuff.
- Riding my trike, bike, or hiking whenever I want. I didn’t plan on broken bones, bike wrecks, and canoe accidents, but there is time to recover. Mom always said it was better to wear out than to rust out.
- Thrift shopping. (I found an unbelievable old school, thick, down hunting vest of the highest quality for 50 cents and a truly brand new high-quality pair of shoes for $9.00. (I have the money for new ones, but I do love a bargain…)
- Learning how to create beautiful photographs (and let me tell you about my photoshopping) and artwork via ChatGPT.
- The biggest gift, for me, in retirement has been being able to get back my good health.
But my garage is still not clean and organized. That was my number one goal in retirement…Oh well…
Today really is a Gift. And that is why it’s called “The Present.”
I agree with most of Jan Hamilton’s thoughts on this. The last year was really an adjustment. I did do a fair amount of painting and contracting work, which I enjoyed and kept me active, but it was at my own pace. It’s nice to have time for projects, recreation, and exercise without feeling like it is at the expense of getting office work done.
I do believe when you make this transition, you have to have a plan and ways to stay active, useful, and engaged. That can be part time work, hobbies, projects, recreation, or a mixture of all of them.
Robert Wilson
I still practice law. Retirement allows me to pick and choose what cases I want to handle. I choose less over more.
Michael Joseph
Someone recently told me retirement evolves through 3 stages: The Go-go years; the Slow-go years; and the No-go years. I decided to retire when my wife and I could still go and travel. We also can visit the grandkids who live far away from Delaware. This past year we were fortunate to be able to travel to the Galapagos Islands, and go exploring, hiking, and snorkeling. We are planning more travel this coming year. Although there are other demands that we may have, it has truly been a gift to have the time and energy to experience this stage of our life.
James L. Henley, Jr.
Retirement Definition – My grandchildren now have an on call no cost ride service. In fact, the service even provides daycare when necessary (including pickup and delivery).
Herbert L. Beskin
Retirement has become a time to relax more, to reflect, to be grateful, to begin new projects and activities, to create new communities, and to seek a new life balance; it turns out to be a pretty good gig.
Tom King
Loving retirement. Did the four corners of the lower forty-eight in a car. Fessenden was unfortunately in Court when we drove through. Doing forty home Brewers games per year and a series on the road with my sons. Garden is better tended than it ever was when I was working. Regular visits with granddaughters in Arizona in winter. After first year of retirement decided I liked it and surrendered my law license. Two years ago, I left my last board position with the Friends of the Seniors Center.
George Stevenson
Not complaining, but if my chief judge who appointed me in 1982 had not retired 4 years ago, I would still be trusteeing. I miss many of the people and things, but I am not unhappy.
Barbara Foley
I retired 2/1/2025. It has been a year. The first few months were pretty touch and go. My mistake was retiring in the middle of winter in Michigan, bad weather, long dark nights, and miserable travel conditions. The loss of professional and social contacts left quite a large hole in my day, even though my husband and I have six children, six children-in-law, and 12 grandchildren scattered across the country. So, the first suggestion I would give, plan a trip on the event of your retirement. It is a celebration to retire, so, celebrate. Also, being physically removed from the geographic area lessens the immediate feeling of loss of those important relationships.
On return home from your outstanding retirement celebration trip, there are a couple different ways to approach this new chapter. One way is to schedule lots of events and then decide which ones resonate. Keep doing those. Drop the others.
Another way is to sit back for a little bit and absorb the beginning of a new phase in life. This is a little frightening as it does require one to face some of the inevitable parts of this transition (i.e. I will never appear in court again, walking into a courtroom or other known professional place of business will not garner the same level of respect – now I am just another gray haired lady in the grocery checkout line). But this also gives time to ponder how you got to this most successful place in your life, what you traded for that success and what you might now take back. It is also a good time to be grateful for completing this journey.
After that time of reflection, I found that my interests bubbled to the top of my days and I was able to insert myself in places and events that gave satisfaction, provided challenges, and offered new relationships. That is not to say there weren’t a few missteps and wrong directions. I would suggest that this is a good time for a life coach to assist in the sorting out process. This neutral processor of my thoughts and concerns was very helpful in the first few months to deal with the real grieving process as well as help clarify a way forward.
Now, a year into this retirement my time is well occupied with book clubs, volunteer opportunities, exercise classes, making new friends and renewing old acquaintances. This is your time which, if you are like me, you have never had in your life. Please do not allow friends or family to pull you into activities that do not suit you in your current freedom. You worked hard to earn this retirement. Make it yours. Best wishes for a long and active retirement.
William Miller
Adjustment to retirement took me a few minutes. I was ready, particularly after the difficult COVID office transition and experience. Also, when people asked me when I would retire, I replied facetiously “when I needed 40 hours a week to see all my doctors.” I let my law license expire after I ran out of CLE. Fortunately, my lifelong interest in various activities has served me well in retirement. Sports (padel, tennis, golf, pickleball, and skiing), mountain biking, hiking, walking, traveling, being a grandfather, and yes, doctor visits, have all kept me busy. With all 7 grands living locally, there’s always a family party, kid game or activity, or just plain babysitting. It’s also a bonus to do many of these activities with Anne, my wife of 50 years.
One attempt at brain exercise for me has been revisiting the saxophone after a 50+ year hiatus. It was in my attic and obviously needed a refurbishing, but it’s been a blast to play songs with orchestral accompaniment on the internet.
Probably my favorite thing is not setting an alarm and letting my circadian rhythm control. Not rushing out the door (except for skiing and babysitting) has been wonderful. Despite the fact that it seems as though we now have limitless time, we’re busy enough that Anne and I wonder constantly how we got it all done when we were both working more than full time. I guess that’s a good thing.
John Logan
Cindy and I are visiting my younger daughter and her fiancé in L.A. We’re a bit chagrined at having missed the snow in Raleigh (where it seldom snows), but now enjoying 80+ degrees and clear sunny skies in February has been mighty nice. My sentence is: The best part of retirement is being able to take a nap anytime I wish.
I retired 12/31/23, and had my 3rd back surgery in January 2024 followed by my 4th (and I expect my final) back surgery on 6/30/25. Being fully recovered and rehabilitated, I am thrilled to say I’ve not felt better or healthier since I was a sophomore in college.
I miss the daily contact with my employees but little else about work.I worked mighty hard as a trustee, and I do not miss the work one bit. While I’ve retained my law license, I’ve not put it to use and expect I’ll soon let it go by the wayside.
I tend to be a night owl, so I go to bed about midnight and usually sleep until about 9:00. It’s nice getting 9 hours of sleep regularly. I start each morning solving the day’s Wordle puzzle. Since October 2024, I’ve read 32 novels, including some classics like East of Eden (John Steinbeck), The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway), and Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury). One of my favorites has been Man of Iron, a biography of President Grover Cleveland. I’m now about halfway through a biography of Mark Twain and have in queue The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas) and Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy). I never had the time or energy to read much while working, so getting back to reading for enjoyment has been a joy.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my workshop perfecting my wood turning skills, and Cindy and I have enjoyed some travel, visiting family and friends (in a few days we’ll head to San Diego for a family wedding). Now that I’m back to full back health, as soon as I heal completely from a 12/6/25 broken ankle, more travel is in our future.
Having been consumed by a ridiculous volume of work e-mail 24/7 while working, as you may have noticed, I seldom open or read my email.
I’ve always loved to cook, and my most recent venture has been curing and smoking bacon from 10-11 lb. sides of pork belly. It’s surprisingly easy and so good I’ll never buy store bought bacon again.
We’ve also enjoyed plenty of time with our 3 grandchildren and my 95-year-old mother who lives about 4 or 5 miles from us. I’ve been so busy, I wonder how I once had time to work 60 hours a week.
If you find yourself near Raleigh, please come visit.
Mary Grossman
Ah, retirement. I was not ready to fully retire when I left in 2017, but the lack of time to myself pushed me out the door. I was first an usher at Milwaukee Brewers games, but when the commitment began to exceed the number of games Tom King attends in a year, it was time for something else.
The late Tom Vaughn gave me a new career as a receiver for a 400+ acre horse farm in Cook County IL. Yes, Chicago’s own county. At my first visit, I encountered 5’ of water in the basement of a mansion and many other horrors over the years. It ended 5 years later with the disposition of over 1,000 pounds of hemp seed. Very long story. Tom Vaughn apologized to me many times.
I was sucked into local government when I led the opposition to a large gravel pit at an adjoining property. We defeated the gravel pit but my reward is continued involvement as a Town board member for my very small town.
I still ride horses, usually 6 mornings each week. It has always been my passion and retirement allows me to pursue it. I love retirement and the flexibility it gives me to do the things I want to do. I highly recommend it.
