Dear Friends,
The idea of retirement came
to me one stressful Saturday afternoon, about a month ago. I was having a hard
time writing report cards, a part of my job that I had always enjoyed. Comments
wouldn’t come to me as easily as they used to neither would adjectives nor verbs.
For hours I typed, cut, pasted, copied, stared at the white screen, and then
started all over again. When I realized I’d rather do anything else, including
clean my apartment, I knew the end was near.
I blame my quick decision to
retire on the Wood Horse, the Chinese astrological sign, under which I was
born. Of course, my age, declining memory and increasing inability to handle stress
played a bigger role, but I would like to believe that the fast and furious
horse made me do it.
On January 31, as I savoured a
delicious New Year meal in a beautiful Chinese restaurant, I declared my
freedom!
