Are you sheltering-in-place? If you’re working from home, you’re getting a preview of retirement–more meals to provide and more togetherness with your mate or, if you live alone, more hours by yourself. Not primping to meet the public or commuting gives you time to think about what you want to do in the future.
In the sixties, I did as expected and quit my office job to be a housewife and mother. When our three children were all enrolled in school, I acquired two part-time jobs–the Durand Township clerk and a community correspondent reporting our local news to the Rockford Morning Star daily newspaper. Most of the work could be done on my own at home.
I taught our daughters and our son to do all of the necessary homemaking things. I told them, “Unless you’re a rich adult and can afford to hire someone to do the work, you’ll be doing it.”
They asked, “Why doesn’t Dad have to?”
I explained that their father grew up in the era when outside chores were designated “man’s work” and inside tasks were deemed “woman’s work.” I wasn’t about to change that stubborn man.
Ken retired in 2003 after serving in law enforcement for 37 years. I’d cooked and cleaned for 44 years and suggested my retiring, but his retort was, “I never heard of a housewife retiring.”
It’s been a long time since I thought of myself as “just a housewife,” but I continue to do the tasks necessary to make our house a home. If I’m gone or sick, my husband takes care of the daily duties. Otherwise, he does what he wants to do when he wants to do it.
After serving 46 years as clerk, I declined to run in the 2017 election for township officials. I will never retire from writing as long as my mind and fingers work.
Are you retired, looking forward to retirement or hoping to never retire?