Friday, August 22, 2014
Well where to begin.....after having worked
my entire life, and having reached the ripe old age of 66, I was facing the
dreadful word " RETIREMENT" and I must say panicking as to what I was
going to do. My BFF husband had been happily retired for the last 3 years, while I
continued working. Work was my identity as with so many of us Baby Boomers. A word or label I
have grown a strong dislike for! I dare you to Google the definition of Baby
Boomer and if that doesn't get your ire up, well you are thicker skinned than I .... baby boom·er noun informa lnoun: baby boomer; plural
noun: baby boomers; noun: babyboomer;
plural noun: babyboomers
- a person born in the years following World War II, when there was a temporary marked increase in the birth rate.
"America's
health care costs are expected to soar as baby boomers become senior
citizens"
I have heard the word “BABYBOOMER” used
my entire adult life in a negative connotation. Note they added the italicized
sentence about health care costs. But
then I digress, where was I? Oh yes…I ended my working years at a company called
Edwards Lifesciences. I was very proud to work at this company where I was a Sr. Manager
for 13 years as “Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader in the science of
heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring. Driven by a passion to help patients,
the company partners with clinicians to develop innovative technologies in the
areas of structural heart disease and critical care monitoring that enable them
to save and enhance lives.”
Why do I bring up my
last place of work you may well ask? It is for me, as I imagine it is with most baby
boomers (old hippies) how I defined myself. I worked
tirelessly in my career with a very strong work ethic, and it was simply put who I
was.
Remembering we were from the "new generation,"
changing the world, the beginning of woman’s Lib…burning our bras, unlike our mother's we could have it
all. A balance of work and
family life.
As my retirement date advanced ever nearer, I began
to research retirement articles. As
I perused them I began to get even more depressed, I found them to be
extremely negative, what the hay! This is supposed to be the best time
of our lives. Then I add to that my
daughter talking to me, here is where I must state she is a LMFT,
and it appears she has had a client wait for it....(of course
they were) that was a Baby Boomer. She, with the best of love and intentions, saw it as her duty to educate me
with facts and stories of baby boomers “My Age” that were having
difficulty adjusting to
retired life. I am sure from her perspective she was merely providing me with the
statistics and knowledge of her trade. Although I am still not sure what
the message was, don't retire, work until you die? Or beware you're going to die as soon as you retire?
<grin>
Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the 55 and older spokesman AARP, they tell us "In
2011, the first of the baby boom generation reached what used to be known as
retirement age. And for the next 18 years, boomers will be turning 65 at a rate
of about 8,000 a day. As this unique cohort grows older, it will likely
transform the institutions of aging — just as it has done to other aspects
of American life. Will boomers redefine this life stage, or will it redefine
them? I so love how they state "used to be known as retirement age" and they use the word COHORT!
And then my ultimate favorite article from the Huffington Post: “We've all heard the numbers: 10,000 baby boomers a day are turning
65, what used to be the traditional age for retirement. In this article they expertly listed the top 4 things about
retirement 1.Running out of money, 2.Getting Crazy bored, 3. Loss of
importance, 4. Living outside the pulse
of society. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/ please
feel free to peruse the article.
Phew very scary
stuff, makes you want to go to bed and pull the blankets over your
head. But thank goodness I have a great sense of humor, and oh yeah
control over my own destiny; so with what is typical for me I decided,
they don't know me <grin>! Then I logically said to myself, self
what do you think is the median age
of those speaking as the voice of authority for the Baby Boomers
retiring? Well self I said, I’m guessing if they are like my
daughter, they are in their early to late 40’s. In true Hippie style I am determined, as are the many retirees I am meeting, we are going to redefine this stage of our life!
I thank you for reading my first ramblings, and I invite you to take this journey
with me as I venture into my much anticipated “retirement,” or as I like to refer to it "my longest
coffee break". I'm just sayin.......
Cute! I look forward to more "ramblings."
ReplyDeleteLove it, I can not wait to read more!
ReplyDeleteNow for the "daughters" response to ensure I am properly quoted as so often I am misquoted or misinterpreted for the benefits of others. I am a "Marriage & Family Therapist" not a Family Marriage Therapist. Further I have not be actively seeing clients in over three years, and when I did, the majority of my clients were Children, and Teens in the foster care system, never would I claim to be a "expert" in working with the geriatric population although I understand what a urgent need there is for those that do. What I shared with you were highlight from a recent mental health symposium on working with the geriatric population. Yes, there is a urgent need for those in our field to service this population since the population is aging rapidly and since about 15% of adults 60 and older suffer from a mental disorder, the most common were depression, dementia, and phase of life issues. What the expert was stating is the most effective way to negate these effects was for this population to remain active, engaged, social with others in their current life phase, and above all learning new things.
ReplyDeleteThe reason or rather my intention to pass this on to others especially my mother, is because I believe that education is power, "the more you KNOW, the more you GROW." Also. to encourage you as you began this new journey in your life to keep busy, both mentally and psychically, and above all positive! Remember to never let a "label" like "baby boomer" define who you are, you alone are in charge of this next phase! Have fun with your blog , loved reading it, would love even more to not be a "subject" in it :-)