I’m feeling a little pensive today as my 75th trip around the sun approaches.
I am reminded of a line I read by Robert Reich, American professor, author, lawyer, political commentator, and former US Secretary of Labor: “Life is short. But retirement is not the end. It just means more time to do what you like and less of what you don’t.”
It reminds me of what I told my friends when I retired from a thirty-year teaching career in 2008: “I may be retiring from teaching, but I’m not retiring from life.”
Not to say I did not enjoy my teaching career, I did. But after 30-plus years of teaching in the classroom and coaching on the playing field, it was time to move on.
Indeed, since retiring, I have published an independent arts magazine, The Beat Magazine, from 2009 to 2013 (which I recently revived as a website), written freelance for an advertising/marketing agency and numerous local publications (something I continue to do), and put together the Programs for Silver Spotlight Theatre’s productions of Babes in Arms (2023) and Into The Woods (2024).
Most recently, I became a volunteer member of the London Public Library’s Historic Sites Committee and, as such, initiated the erection of a commemorative Interpretive Signage/Plaque celebrating the contribution of Wonderland Gardens to London’s music history. (The unveiling takes place on Sunday, June 21, at 1:30 pm, at Springbank Gardens.)
I have also travelled abroad with my partner, Val Cavalini, as much as finances and time will permit, and spent plenty of time with my daughter’s family, Hilary Young.
Unfortunately, I received a recent, unexpected Prostate Cancer diagnosis. Luckily, due to regular PSA screening, it was caught early before it had a chance to spread. I underwent twenty consecutive days of radiation therapy in April 2026 and am keeping my fingers crossed that the treatment was successful.
My advice: Don’t view retirement as an end but as an opportunity.
Several years ago, my daughter bought me a baseball cap that reads “Retired, Not Expired.”
I wear it with pride.
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