From: James Algiers
Date: Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 1:48 PM
Subject: pants--one leg at a time
To: Louis
One Leg at a Time
Louie,
My last letter referred to a meeting which I was to attend. I attended, and perhaps you will be interested in the remarks made and to the impressions I gained. The attendees were 10 in number, all retired, but one. All were ex-chiefs of service; all professors most recognized as among "the best physicians in the country.”
All were sincere in their thoughts, ideas, and memories of "how they departed.”
The meeting began with the secretary of the Alumni Association stating the reason for the meeting was to improve the long standing relationship with the Profs. Immediately, one of the professors responded that "he felt lost and unknown in the community of teaching professors, still employed in the med school. He felt left out, and ignored.
That feeling began two months after his retirement, when suddenly he was notified of the termination of his school sponsored and identified email address. Since that loss, he felt lost and abandoned. Quickly two other retired profs seconded the remark, and the emotions were obvious. Suddenly the profs were retirees such as those seen in industry, government, and business.
As they spoke it became obvious that, as we know, retirement has many faces and retirement emotes many emotions. Retirement is about the most dramatic change one might go through.
As one put it, "Retirement is worse than my divorce.”
It was revealing. And I had thought my retirement was only felt by me and Dorothy, and it had been a personal event. Now, Louie, I knew the emotions of falling from the "throne" of popularity and edification were not personal, but universal to all retirees.
But to hear from the true professionals, from the chiefs of service, from the leaders of the med school… and to learn that they, too, had not prepared, planned, or truly accepted the ultimate change in their lifestyles, in their plans, and suddenly found themselves "out there" with the rest of struggling humanity, that was revealing.
It was interesting to listen to all the remarks, and surrounding the stated remarks was the underlying emotion of "how could this have happened to me" and "doesn't anyone out there really care?" I listened intently to sounds from the hallways, sounds of shoes horse’s hooves as
George left the White House, or as Nixon ducked his head from the whirling propellers of the evicting helicopter, or maybe the smoking cigar of Pres. Bill.
The emotions of all of us are the same, and if allowed I would have said the same to my friends.
I kept quiet as they emoted, but finally said, "Welcome to retirement, and welcome to the email world outside of the hallowed halls." After a bit, all recognized the ego deflating trips which all had made over the past few years, and their desire to again participate in some fashion in the med school, their Lambeau Field of the past.
I do think the two hours of speaking just might do some good for the future. The present President of the Medical School is an approachable guy who seems to care for associates, and he might just listen and insist on some changes in preparation; some email identification after the Chair Position.
And so Louie, I again learned -- the chore of the morning is to Put On Your Pants One leg at a Time.
Let me know if Legal Publishers are to be counted.
Keep the faith,
Jim
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