WHO'S GOING TO RETIRE? NOT ME!

When my production of IN GOD’S HANDS closed after a six-night run, I drove home with my husband, content that the show had been a success. After a month of rehearsals, the play, for which I had written and played the music, opened on my 71st birthday, a tribute to the fact that Jimmy Stewart is not the only one who lived a wonderful life! I had to laugh when my housekeeper said to me, “You are the busiest retired person I know!” Of course, I corrected her saying, “I am retirement age, but I am not retired. I have too many things I want to do.” Just two days later while sitting in the Tuesday sales meeting at the real estate office where I am a fledgling sales associate, Phyllis, the office manager, a spunky 75 year old who had just returned from a trip to Florida to visit her brother, poked her head in the doorway and announced, “Don’t ever retire! I spent the past weekend with retirees in Florida who spend their days sitting around, albeit in a beautiful location, waiting until it is time for the Early Bird dinner. They had nothing interesting to talk about and were like the ‘walking dead.’” Though many in the room were far from retirement age, those of us who had already “been there and done that” nodded our heads in agreement, including our broker who heads up this busy office while collecting her Social Security checks. The summer before my 70th birthday, I decided to take Joyce up on her offer to help me get started in real estate if I would get my license, signing up for real estate classes as soon as my piano studio was closed for the summer. What a challenge it was to be back in the classroom after so many years, but it was exciting to pile up those A’s and then ace the two and a half hour state test in 30 minutes. But being a realtor out in the field does have its challenges. “Oh, my God. This place is a dump,” I wanted to exclaim as my clients and I walked in the front door of a home for sale in a prestigious neighborhood. “Who could live with such a screwed up floor plan? And those small bedrooms! You can hardly fit a dresser in them!” the yenta inside me wanted to scream out. But, instead, I remembered the non-critical dialogue I’d heard on HGTV. “What do you think of this place?” I asked cheerily. I was hoping they didn’t notice the words I had written on the MLS page about this property. But within moments, they looked at me and smiled, reading the words I’d written as they asked for the MLS print out. “It definitely is El Dumpo!” At least I have come further down the road than my mother who often concluded her damaging comments about my weight by adding, “But if there’s one thing I have learned in life, it’s to keep my mouth shut.”