June 6, 2007

• Retirement

  Retirement day for Dan came and went. I have to admit that it was a hard day for me. I am not quite sure why. It’s something that we have discussed for years and I knew that it was coming. Still, it was difficult.

  School districts are not allowed to spend a lot of money on perks for staff, so the retirement celebration was held at lunch in the school cafeteria on the teacher workday at the end of the year. Attendance is voluntary and each teacher or staff member who attends has to pay for his/her own meal. The cafeteria was full, though, with staff and teachers from both campuses in our district as well as many retired teachers. One of the teachers who retired several years ago told Dan that he had not been back in the building since his own retirement but that he had to come to Dan’s. Dan was very touched by that.

  Lunch was lasagna, garlic bread, salad and cake. After lunch, the program honoring the retirees started. There were six retirees, three teachers and three members of the custodial staff. The teachers were honored first, beginning with a member of the elementary staff, then another junior high teacher, and finally Dan. Each teacher’s principal said a few words about the teacher. I wish I could remember what Steve Harter said about Dan. It was really very nice. I do remember that he commented on what a good role model Dan had been for the rest of the staff and how many programs Dan had started to help the students. I cried through the whole thing.

  After the principal spoke, the teacher was asked to speak. Dan had his remarks typed out, so I have them and can read them again later. It will be much later, though, because reading them still makes me cry. I do remember that he quoted Andy’s scoutmaster who always said “Leave it better than you found it,” and said that that was what he had tried to do with his teaching career. I am pretty confident that Dan did leave the school better than he found it.

  The retiring custodians were honored after the teachers. The Superintendent spoke about them and then each of them responded. Our good friend Pat was one of the retiring custodians, and our friend Rod was the other junior high teacher who retired. Dan was very pleased to be “going out” with the two of them. It made the act of retiring much more meaningful for him.

  I have been trying to figure out just why Dan’s retirement is so difficult for me. I have always prided myself on being a person with my own identity and not being just an extension of my husband, but somehow Dan’s retirement feels like it changes who I am. I don’t know quite why that is.

  I do feel like the school district lost something important when Dan left. I know that nobody is really irreplaceable, but he’s an exceptional teacher and worked very hard. He also has a lot of experience. He mentored the new faculty and I am sure that they are better teachers because of it. I’m sad to see that end.

  I do our budgeting, so I am concerned with those issues. Dan’s income will change a little, but not too much. At least that’s our hope! We will know better when we see his first pension check. We do have one big financial change, though, and that is that now I will have to pay for my own insurance. The school will pay for Dan’s. I can stay in the teacher group, but now I have to pay for it every month. Before retirement, the school paid most of it. Did you know that insurance is expensive???!!! I know that I will get it figured out, but in the meantime, I worry about it.

  I know that the fact that I cannot retire is also an issue for me. I did teach thirteen years in the public school system and I still sub there, so I do have money in the pension fund. To retire with full pension, though, you have to qualify for the Rule of 90. That means that your age plus your years of service have to add up to ninety. I have accumulated service time by subbing, but I am only up to about seventeen or eighteen years. That means I would have to be, well, seventy-two to retire! I will continue to accrue years of service, but full retirement is probably not in my future. I can decide to draw my retirement at any time, but because I am not eligible for full retirement, the amount I would get right now is very small. If I wait a few years, it gets much better. For now, it looks like I will be working my four jobs until I can draw Social Security. At that point, I will be able to cut back, but possibly not to retire completely.

  In the meantime, three of my jobs are flexible and I can decide to be gone for awhile. My fourth and primary job is online, so with a good laptop, I can travel. We bought that laptop in January, so we are planning some trips and will see how it works out.

  I know that the whole retirement thing will work out and that I will soon feel much better. Dan and I enjoy being together. Now we will have much more time to do the things that we enjoy. I just have to get this all worked out in my head.

  PS. Go visit Morning2Dancing. His blog today is really beautiful!

  • 11:58 am
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