Retirement: The Courage to Grow Old
The enzymes still mix.
The colon still works.
The glottis still clicks.
The patella still jerks.
I'm not yet a ghost.
Nor planning to rot –
And I'm making the most
Of the years that I've got!
Robert E. Lee
Age 73, Robert E. Lee is a distinguished playwright and author in The Courage to Grow Old, a collection of 41 inspiring essays written by prominent people over 60. Phillip L. Berman edited the anthology. The Courage to Grow Old is a goldmine on the art of both retirement and aging, and it merits careful study by anyone over the age of 12. The contributors are wonderfully witty and wise; what they have to say is instructive and illuminating.
This article presents the views on retirement of one retired, sober alcoholic lawyer. Lest some skeptic sneer: "Hey, what can an ex-drunk tell me about retirement or about anything else?" my last drink was in 1963, about the time Jack Kennedy was shot, and my recall of the intervening years is not bad. I retired from the practice of law --- but not of life --- just a few years ago, so perhaps I am still a rookie.
Follow the example of squirrels: start laying up plenty of nuts for retirement, long before the day arrives. Even more important, take care of your body; exercise, eat wisely, go easy on smoking and booze. As George Burns said: "If I'd know I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of my body."
So what else is important, once you have gotten the final hugs and handshakes from your colleagues? Find something that inspires you and which involves only the giving of yourself. For me, this has been as a peer counselor for the Lawyers' Assistance Program. There are countless other agencies which need volunteers.
Feed the need to be creative. This is the spark for all of The Courage to Grow Old contributors. They laugh at the sedentary life and continue to be productive. "Retirement" is not for them.
To date, I have resisted the return to the courtroom to stare down 12 plaintiff-oriented, high-roller jurors. But the option is still open; I have retained my WSBA license.
The contributors to The Courage to Grow Old are mainly writers, actors, scientists, economists, and teachers. They are united on this point: the high importance of a sense of humor. One poet-writer, Dame Hyacinth Hill, says,
How is the courage to grow old different from the courage we have had to have throughout life? I think one major difference is an increased need for, and use of, humor. We need more fun and games as we age. It is a way of both hiding sorrow and pain and helping ourselves and others support a bravery which may begin lagging under life's blows.
Faith is important too. In Alcoholics Anonymous, there is a step acknowledging "A Power greater than ourselves." For many this is God. But not to worry: nature can be that power too. Mark Twain talks about "the calm confidence of a Christian holding four aces."
Well, here we are almost at the end, and we haven't even scratched the surface. A pit. As the life expectancy dwindles, we become more conscious of the "morning-line odds." Robert E. Lee has some thoughts on this:
In theater, the action ends, the houselights come up, the audience is cut off from the play. But the end of a life is more like the closing of a scrim, the intercession of a veil which allows a continuation of contact. The remembered words, actions, convictions of an individual are not severed from those who follow him. No knifelike curtain really falls. We still see and enjoy those who have gone before us, as others may be influenced by what we have said and done. Perhaps those who follow will see more clearly than we see ourselves.
As my friend Dave Barry says: "I am not making this up." Retirement and aging are both okay.
-- Robert E. Lee
Originally published in the Washington State Bar Association Bar News, February 1992.
