Yesterday was a long and short day – the last day of work.  I’m almost afraid to say it, afraid of jinxing it.   But it was the last day of work…

…forever.

People kept expecting me to be more excited than I appeared to be.  Mostly I was carefully maneuvering through a lot of goodbyes, a lot of memories, a lot of great potluck food.  Everyone else seemed more intensely excited about the event than I felt.

Mostly I just wanted the day to be done.

I don’t understand it myself.  I should be happy in the New Years blowing noisemakers, wearing a silly hat, kissing strangers, reveling in confetti kind of way.  But I felt more like the happy made it to the top of the mountain at sunrise on a solitary bike ride kind of way.

You know?

They made me a beautiful, cute card that made me laugh out loud.  And they brought in food — breakfast and lunch!  And lots of people stopped by, some people that I didn’t even know that well, to say goodbye and good luck.  Shining in the eyes of  many were their own hopes and dreams of retirement.  Some people talked about their plans, some merely smiled and hugged wistfully.

I am so lucky.  And I know it.  There’s just a small slice of life when  we’re young enough to plan and execute adventures, but old enough to appreciate that we get to do them.

For me that’s now.

Today is day 1 of retirement.  A college friend called me last night to offer congratulations.  She says we’re too young to be retiring, it was only last week that we all lived together in the dorm.  Wasn’t it?  She asked me what I was going to do today, day 1.  I responded that I had no idea.

And that’s the beauty of it.