ORINDANS SHARE RETIEMENT PASSIONS AND PASTIMES
Retirement. No alarm clock. Relaxation. Freedom. Time to dust off old projects, hobbies and ideas. Volunteer. Reignite relationships. What are retirees in our community doing? Do they wake up in the morning eager to greet the new day or lie in bed and wonder how to fill the time? After two-and-a-half years of retirement and missing a rewarding career in teaching, I decided to find out. I contacted long-time friends and acquaintances and found some very happy Orinda retirees delighted to share their stories, as well as some who continue to search for the fulfillment they found in their careers. Enjoying retirement requires some research, and the recently retired should realize it’s not unusual to feel anxious about this stage in life. It takes effort to replace “the positive feedback you get from colleagues and clients when working, which is suddenly gone,” says Maggie Halliday, who along with husband Jeff, find, volunteering and babysitting for grandkids helps fulfill that need. Opportunities abound to pursue longtime interests, revisit former skills and offer your valuable time and talent to local, regional or farther-reaching service projects. Essential to this all-encompassing search is the advice to make sure, “you tend to your family and, foremost, to yourself,” in the process. Read on for an impressive list of pursuits shared by community retirees.
Pursuing Long-time Interests Harlan Hirschfeld has spent his 16 years [of retirement volunteering with City Guides of San Francisco, Oakland Museum, Mission Dolores, San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, Junior Achievement, and both Elder Hostel and American Youth Hostel. The former advertising manager and self-described history buff likes keeping busy, noting Helen Hayes’ admonition that, “if you rest, you rust.” Former University of California Engineering Librarian Camille Wanat finds retirement allows time for “digging in the dirt.” Every week she works on the curation of native seeds and plants at U.C. Botanical Garden. Linda Landau also volunteers there as a docent in addition to her long-time commitment to Friends of the Orinda Library, where former music teacher Maggie Boscoe serves as volunteer curator of the Orinda Library Art Gallery for the Lamorinda Arts Council. Adding their voices to The Singing Messengers choir, Joan Brown, Thalia Chan, Nancy Debenham, Pam Hall, Judy Logsdon, Lee Bressette, Gloria Yruel, Maggie Boscoe and Margie Musante sing at convalescent and retirement homes in Contra Costa County. Former journalist and teacher Paul Schindler finds retirement allows more practice time on his tenor saxophone as a member of the Danville Community Band, while Carol Anderson’s retirement from professional fundraising translates into time for jewelry making and design. Retired teacher Doreen Wagner “left a job that I adored” and is now is in her third year of teaching Spanish to a group of women in her home who have become very close friends. “We have travelled to Spain, gone to see flamenco in San Francisco and even had a cooking class in paella.”
Time to Give Back Steve Zanki has provided one-on-one basic literacy instruction to five students from Europe, the Middle East and China through Project Second Chance, the Contra Costa County Library Adult Literacy Program. The retired biochemist has also helped three of his students find employment and helped one become a U.S. citizen. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is the most rewarding volunteer work Carol Riddell has ever done. She explains that “volunteers work one-on-one with a foster child (the judges love CASAs!) to be a friend, mentor and advocate in court for a vulnerable child during a stressful time in their lives.” Sandy Anderson found her skills learned in the field of education apply as she volunteers “in areas of social justice like Winter Nights Rotating Shelter and Mountain View Shelter through Temple Isaiah as well as current pursuits with Women of Reformed Judaism.” Retirement pursuits reach beyond U.S. borders for Gil and Karen Gleason, who visited Uganda while still working as a musician and a clinical scientist. Ten years ago they began Friends of Ruwenzori to establish a medical clinic, which now serves 100,000 in the rural Ruwenzori Mountains with a full hospital and training programs. At age 91, retired educator Betty Karplus realizes she became “almost a professional volunteer” in retirement, with pursuits ranging from Peace Corps in Jamaica to AmeriCorps in San Francisco as well as teaching English as a second language, science classes for elementary students, serving on the Orinda Historical Society and volunteering with Orinda Community Church.
Tending to Oneself Recognizing and tending to oneself is a top priority in retirement. Retired psychiatrist Gary Nye likes to use the word “refocus” for the opportunity to pursue interesting projects or service. However, he was surprised to feel “more relaxed than I expected. I miss the patients and the clinic staff but not the record-keeping, the tracking of new regulations and responsibilities related to other peoples’ health care.” “Spending one-on-one time with my three adult children, midweek cycling with my husband Mike, revisiting classic authors and going for a walk on a dirt trail in the woods” are the joys of retirement for Elizabeth Kersten, a former California legislature research manager. She also babysits for her granddaughter two days a week and attends her church’s sewing circle to make quilts for disabled children. Retired Social Security administrators Kathleen Wiegand and her husband Gene have purposely set aside time in their weekly schedule for “a date day of fun, exploring and adventure – going to Napa, Half Moon Bay, Sausalito, a movie or just relaxing.” Former financial advisor Shelley Bagg sums up retirement in a few words: “Grandchildren (now numbering four) for my heart, golf for my body and bridge for my mind.” Pat yourself on the back, retired Orindans, and thanks for the inspiration. And hats off to the many other retired residents, who are invited to share their stories at hoppock@msn.com.