Below is my five minute #freewrite on today's prompt: retirement
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There were a lot of factors that helped me make the decision to retire 8 days shy of my 55th birthday in 2013, but the main reason was my mamma was sick and not getting better. My mamma was doing a routine endoscopy in early January, but the doctor ruptured her esophagus. They put in a stint and kept her in the hospital for 30 days, then moved her to assisted living. My official retirement day was January 30th of 2013. I turned 55 on February 8th, but I was not penalized because I was in the 30 day window. We were with mamma everyday until she passed on March 11th 2013. The Postal Service was a great career for me, but you have to know when to go. I went to see some co-workers today and we started talking about retirement. One of my dear friends has 40 years with the post office and has no desire to leave. Her kids are out of college but she's worried about health insurance costs skyrocketing, which they have. So I asked her how it felt to work for .20 cents per hour? She looked at me bewildered and asked what I was talking about. I explained to her that if she retired and stayed home, she would get 80% of her base pay and not have to wake up and go to work. She doesn't work overtime so there's no incentive to keep working. After we talked, I think she has a new outlook on retirement and now may only stay until she gets her high three yearly salaries. I highly recommend retirement if fiscally possible.
Freewrite and photo by Bruni