About

I cannot   accept retirement after getting used to teaching for 45 years   starting in a   private institution and ended up in   the Government’s Department of Education as Division Language Supervisor.  The nagging question was, “Shall I sit with my husband   anywhere beneath the horizon and watch the sunset until darkness prevails?” Typical of retirees, isn’t it?

I was used to the daily grind of work, combining family and career   with all creativity and diligence. My career was not only a source of finances but also a venue for my creativity to flourish. My family included my parents, siblings, husband and children. They all afforded me a chance to use that creativity and they have been a lot of inspiration.  My life has been a marriage of career and family! A precious gift God has given me to sustain my existence.

Now the divorce! Career left two years ago on my 65^th birthday. During   the Salamat-Paalam, a Filipino term for a retirement program which means thank you and goodbye tendered for me,   I was awarded a plaque of recognition for “meritorious accomplishments” as Division Language Supervisor. For me, the award    had   three  silent messages : First , I was  no  longer needed  in the agency  based on Philippine  Laws of Employment. Second, I could   receive benefits no longer, and third, I have to turn over my responsibilities to a younger one. The first two messages were acceptable but the third, debatable.  Am I Old?  How can you tell one is old? Silver linings on the hair, unsteady gait, blurred vision? Suppose she could   ride through the wind in a zip line and zoom up and down the roller

an exhilarating zip line near our place

coaster, does she not possess the agility of youth? Funny, but this is in defense of old age.  It couldn’t be argued  even if I falsified  my birth date    to appear one or two years younger  just so I could  hold on to my job.  I could not turn the hands of time back, as the cliché goes, I AM OLD!

So, humbly   as stated in the Bedouin Song “I folded my tent like the Arabs and silently walked away!”  I will always be physically   present at home with my 74 year old husband sans children’s guffaws and fights, sans cluttered toys and books, sans teenage demands and   sans all those stuffs of young parents.

My three children are now settled in their own niche under the sun. The eldest, my only daughter is in Ireland with her husband, two boys and the li’l one who is coming soon! The second, also married but childless runs   the family business. The third, still single works in Singapore. My siblings are now comfortably settled in Europe, the United States and various provinces in the Philippines. We communicate through the web. 

i thought i am going to have a heart attack aboard the
Battlestar Galactica (Universal Studios Singapore)

So the nest is partially EMPTY and for traditional Filipino families, this is not ideal. One might wonder if I am in a sad, depressed, downcast, despondent, gloomy, mournful, somber, sorrowful state.  Read on---

The much dreaded change in lifestyle has become a very productive period that left me little or no time to ponder on the negatives.  I made use of my creativity on what others may think as trivial but   for me it is an achievement because I poured all the love and made use of the   luxury of time into what I was doing. Imagine concentrating on a project without thinking of due dates, signing leave forms, submitting reports, organizing seminars and the lists goes on and on. My work has given me a different “high” and a rare kind of stressful moments which did not deplete much energy but instead an adrenalin rush   to finish what was started. Why am I writing this?  To assure future retirees that the field is so wide for us to   be more productive, happy and confident. Just take care of your health, trust in God and you will enjoy the remaining years of your life!