One retirement strategy is to work part-time to avoid getting burned out, and keep working longer. That’s a winning strategy for Becky Johnson. After nearly 40 years she’s still crazy about her work as a pediatrician in primary care office practice. “I love it!” she says. “It is such a privilege to be part of so many families’ lives!”
Medicine runs in Becky’s family. Her husband Larry is also a doc. "His work combines clinical nephrology, teaching, and both clinical and medical school administration -- at least four jobs’ worth of time and effort!" He teaches and is Assistant Dean for Curriculum, at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He is also chief of Nephrology at Cooper University Hospital. Their daughter Molly is a nurse nearby. Her daughter Anna broke the mold – she’s a 3rd grade teacher in Philadelphia.
For fun, Becky and Larry are exploring the world…on foot. Like Peter Regan and Aviva Schneider K’76 (see their posts here on the class website), Becky and Larry love hiking vacations. From northern England to southern France and on to Spain, they’ve enjoyed gorgeous countryside, incredible food, miles of stone walls, gazillions of sheep, and wonderful people. “Walking gives us a connection to the world we are passing through that can’t be beat…and a few blisters!” Click on the photos below to see them larger.
Becky's Thoughts on Aging Parents...
Other posts that discussed aging parents inspired Becky to add these reflections on her experience and Larry's with their parents.
"Aging parents is another popular subject of conversation and decision-making. We both lost our fathers decades ago. Our mothers did amazingly well on their own, both in good health initially. My mother chose to continue living in the house we grew up in, successfully and independently thriving there for 60 years. She was active, driving, always working on projects and helping other people until her death after a brief illness a year and a half ago at the age of 91.
"Her death was a complete shock to us and still is a great loss. Her living situation was wonderful, for both her and us, because it allowed us to maintain a connection to this house we all adored. The other side of this coin is that I have had the responsibility, and gift, of going through her house and 60 years’ worth of possessions, emptying and selling the house.
"I continue to go through her possessions, now at our house, constantly confronted with decisions as to what to keep, and what to do with the things we don't want to keep. A dumpster is NOT in the picture! A frequently fascinating and very time-consuming job. I wish she were here to advise me! Working part-time makes this possible for me."
What to keep and what to throw out, send to Goodwill or advertise on eBay or Craig's List?
Here in Colorado, I debate this with friends all the time. Many are committed to lightening the load by casting overboard everything that is not used regularly. I am in a different camp. In my woodshop, for example, I have the tools I use most often within easy reach – on display over my workbench. But among them are tools I rarely use, just because they were my dad’s and I simply enjoy seeing them.
A good friend was in a similar situation a few years ago. After inheriting the belongings of her 90-year-old aunt, she just couldn’t bear to throw out so many treasures. But she couldn’t keep them, either. There was just too much to absorb. She wanted them to be enjoyed by people who would really appreciate them. So she became an e-Bay wizard and sold a vast assortment of things to people all over the world (antique matchbox cars to a collector in Japan!) who would appreciate them, too. It was very fulfilling for her.
Becky continues...
"Five years ago we moved my mother-in-law, now 97, from an apartment in New York to a senior living residence in Philadelphia, 15 minutes’ drive from us. At that time she was too far away from her children and starting to get lost. This move has worked out very well, with the eventual addition of 24/7 private duty nursing. Now she has reached a difficult time of life where isolation becomes more and more of an issue as hearing, vision, memory and cognitive ability become weaker and weaker. It is hard to watch."
Now, Becky sends this epilog in an email written just a few days later...
"Unbelievably, my mother-in-law passed away on Jan 6, the day after I wrote this. We buried her today on Long Island."
And so the stories play out, each unique in some ways, but most with so much in common.