Retirement--1 Year To Go

This will be an unusual year for me. It is my final year before retirement. I did not expect it to arrive so soon, although, a lot of my friends and relatives close to my age have been retired for several years now.

Strangely, I find that I have become more reflective and ponder over years long gone,while contemplating about my final day of work on January 30, 2007.

I still remember reporting for my very first day of work as an adult. The day is July 1, 1959. Recently graduated from high school and recently married, I boarded a bus in front of Forrest Ratliff's Grocery Store (Oakwood, VA) and waved goodbye to family & friends and headed for the US Air Force Induction Center in Roanoke,VA.

I watched, intently, as places moved swiftly by outside that bus window. We traveled past Red Jacket, Marvin, Richlands and Claypool Hill. The bus broke down in Tazwell for a couple of hours, but, was soon brought back to life, and I continued my trek away from my youth. The next day I was in Basic Training at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX (what an experience!).

I ended my Air Force career four years later (1963) and went to work for Newport News Shipbuilding. On retirement I will have 43 years of service with them.

And so, here I am 47 years later, watching the months go by as I contemplate what I will do with the rest of my life.