Success or failure - retirement

My friend, Sue, did a post about The Glory Days! She felt that some peak early, some peak later. Her peer peaked in high school, and ended up where she started. It was funny, but I watched a "Ghost Whisperer" 2007 episode that contained this theme: the high school jock who never achieved and failed college. 


Educators are lifelong learners! As long as you are learning something, you are doing well!

I felt, when I quit teaching, went on LTD from bereavement and depression issues, and concentrated on writing my book, that I was a failure and had peaked. 

Sue's post rings a bell for me. Then, I read another post, Twenty-five Years of Stuff, which the author writes of frustrations with the system of Mental Health Care. I found I could identify with it.  I fought long and hard in my teaching career: I fought the system, an abusive principal, and found a job transfer. I was so happy with my new boss! 

Then I dropped everything to care for ailing parents. I left the best class of students I had ever taught. I moved 430 km for a new job in Muskoka, in a school with an incompetent new principal. Both of my parents had cancer. I learned lots, but had no one to help me. Since then, I have begun to do volunteer work with Hospice. I feel that the window opened and I am doing different 'work' in a different place. I am so happy with the changes, despite frustration with the educational system, and now the health care system.
As my parents were dying, I began taking courses (online) for an M.A. in Counselling Psychology. I realized that the frustrations in the system were the same as health care and education. I dropped it and concentrate on volunteering. I have learned so much. All the best.

Now, I have come to terms with the change in my life. I have volunteer work with Hospice; a commitment Monday night working with a support group for young kids with bereavement issues. Then two 6-hour days of 'Grief Training' Tu/Wed. that all keep me busy. A 1/2 day conference on Elder Abuse and Power of Attorney. My notion of success has changed. The easy chair calls me, with the golden foliage to frame the photo. I can reflect and contribute on my own terms.

I continue to read, but no more pedagogical theories. Common sense has gone by the wayside. New theories about how we can't put babies in a crib with a sucky toy. (It's driving foster families nuts - I volunteer with CAS, too!)