The work is still worth savoring

“When are you going to retire?” the woman asked.
I’ve heard that question a lot these days, but this time it was different. The woman who was asking had been my date to the senior prom 50 years ago this spring. And she was already retired.
At 67, it’s one of those questions that come up more frequently.
So far, my answer has always been the same: I intend to keep working as long as I enjoy it. I plan to work just as much as I want to.
How long is that? Time will tell.
My kids started posing the retirement question a few years ago, and they received the same answer.
The plan — to the extent that there is a plan — is to dial down my day-to-day involvement with the newspapers in Jay County on a very, very gradual basis.
The first step came back in 2013, when I started opting out of the rotation on Friday nights in the newsroom to put out the Saturday morning edition of The Commercial Review. We have a skeleton crew on Friday nights. In the newsroom, that translates into the sports editor, a reporter and an editor.
For years, that was an every-other-week part of my schedule, but that changed when then-managing editor Mike Snyder suggested that he make Friday night a part of his regular schedule. That way, I could have the night off and Mike could play golf on Friday afternoon when the weather was good.
That work schedule continues today.
The next step came in 2014 when, for the first time in my working history, I took a three-week vacation. It was a little like dipping my toe into retirement to test the temperature of the water. And while it was fun, I was happy to get back to work — back in the saddle, so to speak — when I got back home.
About the same time, I started to leave the office a little early some afternoons. A couple of times, I have even come into work late.
That November, I took the big step and relinquished the role of editor, handing that off to Ray Cooney, who has done an outstanding job. The plan was that I would dial things down further, but then two reporters left for other jobs and I was back in the newsroom mix.
Only recently has the “dial down” scenario begun to work again.
I’ve played hookey to have coffee some mornings with my old friend Ron Cole, and I’ve largely abstained from the weekly newsroom meetings so Ray can put his stamp on the product. The early departure afternoons have also become a little more frequent.
For someone raised with a Calvinist work ethic (that is, after all, my middle name), all of this has taken some getting used to.
Leisure time feels like goofing off. There’s a degree of guilt involved, but I’m doing my best to get over it.
So how gradual with the dialing down be? I have no idea.
I’m still in Dunkirk once a week to plan for each edition of The News and Sun. I’m still covering at least one night meeting a week. I’m still chasing a firetruck now and then. I’m still writing editorials that either inspire or irk, depending upon your point of view. And, of course, I’m still writing this column.
How long will that continue? Your guess is as good as mine.
But my hope is that it will continue for a good, long time.
When you like what you do, when you go home and are proud of what your day has produced, work isn’t something to be dreaded. It’s something to be savored.
And I’m well aware how lucky I am to be savoring it.