The Retirement Thread

[ColinJ]

It set me thinking......you don't know, at our age, whether you've got 30 minutes, 30 days or 30 years left. Make the most of it.

At Christmas 6 years ago I visited a good friend in Coventry. We'd been friends for 50 years. He was very chirpy, enjoying his Christmas break.

He'd suffered serious health problems 10 years earlier but had been saved when his father donated a kidney to him. He had just passed his bi-annual health check.

Two weeks after that I got a call from my sister to tell me that my mate had died suddenly in his sleep. It was a big shock to all of us - he was only 59 - but it was reassuring to think that he'd had a bonus 10 years, and died comfortably at home. He hadn't phoned for help, so we assume that he never even woke up.

Yes - make the most of whatever time you have!

 

[Dave7]

A strange thing is death.
No one KNOWS what, if anything, is on the other side.
There are lots of people that THINK they know, even really believe they do. That's fine.....if it gives them comfort then good for them.
I belong to the "I really don't know" class.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

A strange thing is death.
No one KNOWS what, if anything, is on the other side.
There are lots of people that THINK they know, even really believe they do. That's fine.....if it gives them comfort then good for them.
I belong to the "I really don't know" class.

I don't believe theres anything after death, the lights just go out permanently.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't believe theres anything after death, the lights just go out permanently.

I think that too. It's just better when they go out suddenly while you are asleep, rather than very slowly and painfully while you are awake!

Having had the experience of being very close to death I know what it feels like to be fighting to hang on and (typical British understatement?)... it really is NOT a nice thing!

 

[pawl]

I don't believe theres anything after death, the lights just go out permanently.

The Egyptian Pharaohs believed in the after life but I’m with you on the lights go out permanently Did think about building a pyramid complete with bike 🚴🏽 rack and turbo just in case

 

[pawl]

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Out and about on this nice day

If your waiting for that track to be turned into a cycle route you may be there for some time

 

[pawl]

It set me thinking......you don't know, at our age, whether you've got 30 minutes, 30 days or 30 years left. Make the most of it.

Went to St Enedoc church this morning to see Sir John Betjemin's grave.
Very nice spot overlooking the sea from the 12th century church.

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Couldn't find a pub that was open, so back to the van for a sarnie and a beer.

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Hope you wasn’t booking your plot young man

 

[Tenkaykev]

Not me.........it's Laser who's sadly lost his mum.

Oh, sorry, misread the post

 

[pawl]

,Just as I was reading the last few posts Trevor from next door called round to say Steve from two doors up had suffered a stroke No further information.He is only 66. Most of us on this road have lived here 40 years or more.Makes you think

 

[Juan Kog]

Morning all, have very mixed feelings this morning, had a very strange day yesterday.
I had a early from my mums Lifeline control than my mum had a fall again and the paramedics had been called . I went over and she had been checked over and she was fine but I decided because of this and other problems I would have to phone social services today to get her reviewed with a view to getting her into a care home.
Later in the day I have another call from Lifeline , I see the number and I expect to to be told she had another fall, only to be told she had passed away.
She had been cooking her dinner and was found sat on the seat on her walker in the kitchen.
So I am very sad today ( there might just be tears in my eyes as I write this ) but glad she died with dignity in her own home rather than after a fall or in a care home.
Sorry for the down beat post 😢

I’ve just seen your post , what a devastating phone call. My Condolences and best wishes to you and your family.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I'm very sorry to hear about your mum, but that has to be the way to go - peacefully, at home, without extended suffering.

My mum was the same age when she died. She moved into nice sheltered accommodation a few years after my dad died. Unfortunately, she didn't get her wish to pass away there. She got ill and spent the last year of her life in hospital; she hated that. I actually think that it would have been kinder to have kept her back at home even if it had shortened her life by a few months.

Mrs Tenkaykev worked for a local Hospice for many years leading up to her retirement. I’d go to a lot of the fundraising events and sometimes help out a bit with moving furniture, serving drinks, stuff like that.
The overall impression was one of happiness and tranquility. It sometimes seems as though outside of the Hospice movement there’s a focus on the quantity and not the quality of our life as we approach its end.
It’s a very sensitive subject.

 

[12boy]

My dad and mother in law lived to the point where they wished they could die but lasted many more years, suffering. While it is very hard to lose someone you love, Exlaser, it sounds like her full life, beloved by family, was very good until the end. We all should be so lucky. For myself, I am with Woody Allen on this...I am not afraid to die....I just don't want to be there when it happens.
I have ridden 5 days in a row, and we have 36 mph wind at noon with 54 mph gusts so I believe I will take today off. There may be rain tomorrow but que sera sera. A little bike tinkering and some garden duties that won't be too bad in the wind and maybe a trip to the grocery store. Might even make some oat and quinoa granola. The diversions are endless.
Be safe and well.

 

[Tenkaykev]

The Egyptian Faroes believed in the after life but I’m with you on the lights go out permanently Did think about building a pyramid complete with bike 🚴🏽 rack and turbo just in case

Wait what! I know they were an advanced civilisation with their understanding of astronomy and mathematics, but I never knew they were such a proficient seafaring nation that they’d colonised the Faroe Islands 😁

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I think that too. It's just better when they go out suddenly while you are asleep, rather than very slowly and painfully while you are awake!

Having had the experience of being very close to death I know what it feels like to be fighting to hang on and (typical British understatement?)... it really is NOT a nice thing!

Tis an unpleasant business, I wish to go suddenly, no suffering, but that happening is terribly hard on family and friends, my Father died suddenly, but becoming ill or loosing my facilities and going into a terminal decline and suffering for a long time, thats hard on everybody, I don't think knowing the end is coming is any easier for anybody.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I've spent most of the afternoon cleaning windows, we have a window cleaner once a month but only to do the outside fronts, the rest get done by me inside and out, I've been out on the flat roof above the kitchen today getting the outside back windows clean, they haven't been done since the Autumn.