It’s getting close to the end. We had a biology discipline meeting today — 9 faculty sitting around a table and over zoom — to discuss teaching load and classes for the 2027-2028 school year. That’s normally an interesting meeting, where we propose new classes and assign faculty to required courses, a lot of compromise and discussion. But guess what? I have nothing to contribute since I’ll be fully retired then.
It was a mix of oh boy, relief, I don’t have to teach that course, and oh no, that’s my course, I’ve been teaching it for 25 years. This peculiar disconnect is going to get worse as this year proceeds.
My husband went through this nearly two years ago.
At first, he seemed lost and visited his old office often.
Then, it turned out that his federal office was one that was going to be downsized severely.
His former colleagues are all either retiring or looking for other jobs, except for the one who will be retained to man the office.
Now, he is very happy that he retired just before those changes were mandated.
He’s a computer engineer, so he has built himself a powerful computer in his home office and busies himself with “experiments”.
Every once in a while, I pull him away from his computer and we travel, or do something fun together.
Retirement is an adjustment. Give it a couple of years for you to feel comfortable.