Modern Retirement

I'm retired myself and have nowhere to go with all day to get there, so I started reflecting on what it would have been like to retire in my grandfathers day.

My grandfather worked 32 years in the same job as a machine operator in a oil tool equipment factory. I lived with them at that time, so I could see he was pretty well beat up from all the hard work before he finally got his gold watch and a pat on the back to be sent home.

From what I remember, he didn't ever do much after that. No trips to see the country or even going to a dinner and movie, he would just sit in the back yard in an old easy chair, rolling cigarettes from his Bull Durham bag with a ring of little flakes all around his chair. Then he would puff away with his dog in his lap and watch the grass grow around him. That's where they found him one day, faded off to sleep for good, with the dog still in his lap.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my grandad a lot and still think about him after all these years. My dad passed away when I was only three, so grandad took his place in more ways than just giving me a place to live.

The difference for me today is the Internet. As long as I can get online, the opportunities for discovery and learning will never cease. It also makes a huge difference in our financial status. My old granddad had Social Security and a few bucks from a pension, but there was no way to get more. Today (especially in the United States), there is so much free money laying all around you need a wheelbarrow and a scoop shovel to pick it all up.

My days are so full that it's hard to even get a nap in some days. I am grateful to have been born later so I could be here now. Of course we have no way of knowing what my grandchildren will face when they retire. They might be writing a similar story themselves some day.

So let's enjoy what we have!