By Patricia Morrison
My brother is retiring this month. My BABY brother. I have two younger brothers, but this is the youngest and he’s retiring. It just doesn’t seem right.
Bill lives in Fort Wayne and is a deputy on the Allen County Sheriff Department. He’s held that position for more than 30 years and decided it was time to call it quits. He’s 55. Fifty-five-year-olds shouldn’t retire.
My older brother is 62, and he’s not even considering retirement. Of course, he’s a college professor, and that’s a pretty plush job. Why would he retire?
My other brother is 57 and also isn’t thinking retirement, but that’s because his only son is still in college. Rick is a UPS driver and you’d think he would want to get away from the cold, heat and heavy packages to a life of relaxation, but no, he says he’s not retiring for another five years or so.
For Bill the decision was easy. His children are both fully educated, married and employed. His wife is still working and has no plans to stop any time soon. So they won’t have to depend solely on his pension, and he’s tired of wearing a gun every day.
I guess I’m glad for Bill, but there still seems to be something wrong with retirement at such a “young” age. He’s planning on playing a lot of golf, helping out at his church more and maybe, if the right opportunity comes along, doing some part-time work.
This retirement talk has affected my little sister, who’s 51. She was bemoaning the fact that she can’t retire from her high school teaching position for another seven years. My youngest sister is 49 and has no plans to retire, so I’m sticking close to her.
All this talk has taken me back to the youth I shared with these siblings. It seems like just yesterday, I was going to high school sporting events and cheering on the North Side Redskins and my classmates, and later my brothers’ sporting events and watching my sisters’ cheerleading maneuvers.
Those were good days, and they bring back happy memories. There were wins and losses, but the main thing was the camaraderie of those sporting teams.
That leads me to two of our local schools and a friendly rivalry that has taken a rather nasty turn. A controversial call at a basketball game last year didn’t end with the referee’s call, but is being kept alive and is overshadowing what could be a really good season for a local team.
It’s fun to talk about “what could have been” and “if only,” but all the talk isn’t going to change the outcome and dwelling on it has taken some of the shine off what could be a golden season for a really good team.
Each year, Barr-Reeve puts out an exceptional basketball book available at each game which highlights this year’s teams and the school’s basketball history. Unfortunately, the teams are not the focal point of this year’s book. A bad call at last year’s sectional game has made its way into the book and drawn attention away from where it belongs — on the teams.
What kind of lesson are we teaching our youth when we won’t let go of old hurts and instead attempt to keep them alive? Mistakes happen; we’re all human. Things happen that can’t be reversed, and it’s too bad that the adults in charge can’t set an example and move on with their lives.
High school should never be the high point in a life, but the beginning of many high points.
nPat is the mother of three children and a grandmother. She’s active in her church, Westminster Presbyterian, here in Washington.
