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| Moving into the future |
This is the month I have to act on my previously stated plan to fully retire from my career. I have renewed my Physiotherapy license for 50 consecutive years and have to renew it at the end of this month for the 51st time to continue working at the hospital. I started this post-retirement part-time job on Monday, March 9, 2020. It was a nine-month contract that covered another physiotherapist's maternity leave. COVID changed that, and my contract was repeatedly renewed. I have loved working with the staff members at this facility, and it has been a perfect end to my career. On March 9, 2026, six years to the day from when I started, I submitted my resignation. Part one is done.
We were raised with a strong work ethic, and our family can be quick to judge perceived laziness in others. Mom hobbled with her cane to teach Bible classes even after her cancer spread to her bones. There was very little rest in her as she pushed herself to be productive right up to the time of her death. That tendency is in me too.
Mom's mother gave up her practice as a Paediatrician in 1960 when she was 64 years old. She took a six-month trip, which included an extended visit with our family in South Africa. When she returned to Canada, she established new routines and was a wonderful grandmother. Developing relationships with people was her specialty. I remember her saying that after retirement, breakfast time changed to 8 AM from 7 AM. Each day had one chore to be done in the morning: washing, ironing, vacuuming, etcetera, and Grandma always visited someone in the afternoon. She loved a game of Scrabble after dinner and the 6:30 PM news cast. She volunteered at the tuck shop at the local nursing home on Saturdays. I went with her on many afternoon visits and also helped scoop ice cream cones at the tuck shop from time to time. Grandma made time for her hobbies of reading, birding, and gardening, and she took several trips to various countries with her friends. She made a clean, successful break from her medical career and identity as a doctor.
I still have to resign from my professional college. I started doing that this week, but hesitated to check the box that would end my career on March 31st. Part two is harder than anticipated.
My timely Lenten reading today was titled "The Future" from the book "A Way Other Than Our Own: Devotions for Lent." Walter Brueggemann wrote,
"The long history of faith, with all the saints, is a story of walking into the future given by God...Lent is...seeing how to take steps into God's future so that we are no longer defined by what is past and no longer distracted by what we have treasured or feared about the present...So imagine, in this Lenten season, moving beyond treasured pasts, moving beyond precious present tense arrangements to new God-given prospects."
As children, we are asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
From an early age, we learn that our worth is in our work. Our interests and relationships may suffer in our pursuit of a career that, without diligence, can take over our identity. I have loved my chosen career and enjoyed the various jobs I have had over the years in hospitals and community care. I am ending on a high note and am not burned out or cynical. I am thankful for good health and for my capacity for ongoing learning and sharing with others.
I have nineteen more days to confirm my retirement from my professional college. Transitions are difficult, but I know it is time to move on.
On another note:
I talk about Grandma D often, and she reminds me that the only thing we leave in this world is a legacy for our family and those people whose lives we touched. My memories of her are kept alive with first-hand stories and reflections on her life. Tomorrow, March 13, is the 36th anniversary of her death. Below is a photo of me at her graveside at the Aurora Cemetery, around 2013.
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