Retired Role Models

 Happy Labour Day - otherwise known as the day before school starts anew.

During the last full week of summer vacation, I celebrated my son's 21st birthday (Happy Birthday Peter!), wrapped up the York University August Teacher Librarianship AQs, attended the TDSB New Teacher-Librarian Unconference and participated in the AML annual Think Tank. I also made some time to visit with two special friends. Both of them live some distance away from me and both of them are retired teachers. Spending time with them was wonderful and valuable in terms of considering my post-teaching next steps.

Melissa Jensen hails from Barrie. She and I crossed paths thanks to OSLA as far back as 2011, possibly even 2008. (Thank you LinkedIn for the date check!) She served on OSLA Council and was OSLA President in 2017 while I was the OSLA Lead Editor from 2006-2018. We presented at the ETFO Summer Academy together in 2016. I stayed at her house when giving a workshop for Simcoe County DSB. 

I reached out to Melissa because 1) I hadn't seen her in a long time, and 2) I needed to consult her about owning a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. (She has one. I'm considering getting one when I retire but I had to see if my son is allergic.) (Spoiler alert: he IS allergic, so it's back to the planning stage for more hypoallergenic dogs.)

My son, daughter and I spent a delightful Monday afternoon chatting with Melissa and her husband, dining at a tasty local pub, and walking along the waterfront (Lake Simcoe, but more specifically, I think it's Kempenfelt Bay).

Lisa Noble is a Peterborough peeps. We first met face-to-face at ECOO's Bring It Together conference in 2014, although according to my blog, we were in contact much earlier thanks to Twitter. (I joined Twitter in 2009.) We even did a Tumblr inquiry together before our IRL relationship took off. Lisa is one of the big reasons why I go to conferences. She was in KPRDSB and I was in TDSB, so the only opportunities where we could meet were at conferences. I looked back on my blog and I'm constantly quoting Lisa ("breathe" / "let go" / "it's okay to walk away") or making things with her (fabric fidget mazes at BIT 2018) or seeing her make things, like the scarf for Stephen Hurley when he won the 2020 OLA Media Award. We last saw each other in the flesh at the 2020 OLA Super Conference, so it was time to reconnect.

Lisa picked a perfect spot halfway between Toronto and Peterborough - Port Perry, Ontario. We had a Thursday night dinner followed by a pretty stroll along the shores of Lake Scugog.

Melissa, Lisa, and I had engaging conversations during our separate times together. I won't share every detail but it was remarkable how similarly enriching they were. The lessons that I learned from both of them related to retirement is to have a plan AND be prepared to be flexible with that plan. Both Melissa and Lisa left the profession at a slightly different time than they might have anticipated, but it was the right time for them. They both had ideas on how they would spend their time and altered them because circumstances suggested better paths to take. Their post-elementary-school-teaching careers have enough leeway built into them that they are able to enjoy life and not feel like they just replaced one work commitment with another. (Melissa works for Knowledge Hook and Lisa works for Trent University.) They can travel without busting their bank accounts (Melissa is a world traveler like my sister; Lisa explores Ontario in a way that I think my husband might appreciate.) They enjoy time with their spouses and make time for friends. I get the feeling that both of them are not bored and content with how they've crafted their timetables with the right mix of busy and relaxed. They are not stingy with their time and are genuinely happy.

I know I have a lot of time to go before it's my time to retire. I wrote about this last year on my blog when I went to see Boy George in concert. I'm not sure why I was so secretive about my planned window for retirement - I'm thinking it could be in the next 5-8 years, and it's okay if I change those plans to make it earlier or later. That's something I learned from Melissa or Lisa. There's no harm in changing plans. I am grateful that I have friends who have experienced this stage of life a little bit before me, so I can turn to them for positive examples and support. Thank you Lisa and Melissa for giving me permission to share these photos and write about how wonderful you both are!