Having Lost My Mind
I have now been retired for five years.
I love being retired. I love living my life exactly as I wish. No schedule. No deadlines. No bosses.
And now I have done it. Or un-done it. Lost my senses.
I’ve un-retired.
I saw a posting for a part-time bookkeeper at my local library.
And all of a sudden, I wanted to do it.
Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to work in a library.
Imagine going to work every day in a place that’s full of books and people who like to read books. That is an introvert’s heaven.
I took a day to think about it. And decided that yes, I have indeed lost my mind.
But what if I could fulfill a childhood fantasy at the age of 70? Why wouldn’t I want to do that? After all, my other dream was to be a movie star, which isn’t so likely anymore.
And I had been a financial executive for thirty years. Bookkeeping wouldn’t be so hard. Just part-time too. I could do it.
I sent my resume. My cover letter said, “I know that my resume is a bit ‘extravagant’ for a part-time bookkeeper. But I’m no longer looking to move up in the world. A nice quiet world is fine by me.”
I got the job.
I have been at it for two weeks now.
On the first day, I was sure I had made a grievous mistake. Oh yuck, I thought. I am matching purchase orders to packing slips to invoices. Didn’t I do that in the 80s? And I’m lousy at it, to boot.
But on the second day, I found some of the purchase orders. And I found staples and paper clips. And the bathroom.
I worked so quietly, the staff forgot I was there. They were locking the doors and enabling the security system as they were leaving, as I rushed down the stairs. The librarians were shocked. Shocked that they almost locked me in, and probably shocked that I am even quieter than librarians.
To be honest, that had happened when I was new at my last job too. After working a little late trying to figure out what the hell I was doing, I got up from my desk, and all the building alarms went off. The police came. The company president gave me the security codes the next day.
On my third day at the library, I paid bills. I put checks in the printer and they didn’t even print upside down. Plus, I got out safely before the alarms went off.
Okay!
Week Two: I made a bank deposit and balanced the cash and produced a financial statement.
And I did it in a LIBRARY!
- Posted in: Aging ♦ Humor ♦ Work
- Tagged: retirement
notquiteold 
Congratulations!!!
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This is a dream!!! I wrote about how happy I was that our library just reopened! Why not spend your time how you want when retired?
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Where’s the “LOVE!” button? I worked for 30+ years in the mortgage business, mostly in branches working with the public and then in underwriting working with mortgage brokers. Neither of those groups of people would I ever choose to work with again. At age 50 I quit the mortgage job and went back to grad school, got my degree by 52 for ‘information technology’ which is the new term for librarian. I was so excited. Of all the places in the world I’d want to work, a library was it. Even if it did mean working with the public. Because helping someone find some information or a book or a movie was infinitely better than telling them they got denied for a mortgage. I graduated in 2008, found a job in a library and worked almost one year before the econoy collapsed and all cities cut hours and closed libraries I got laid off. or is that layed off? Anyway I was unemployeed and eventually I had to go back to the mortgage underwriting department that I had left 4 years before. It was brutal. I worked 5 more years and gladly retired. Now, would I take a part time job in a library? Maybe. But mostly not. I don’t want to have to be ANYWHERE, even somewhere as wonderful as a library on any schedule. I’ve been retired since 2015 and I hope to stay that way. BUT, I’m thrilled for you, given you’re happy there!
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Dreams never die! Maybe I’ll still run that marathon! Haha!! Very happy for you!
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Sounds like a great thing to do.
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Oh..how wonderful for you. The best of both worlds! Cheers to you.
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Congrats on making your dream come true. Sounds like you’re off to a wonderful start!
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I haven’t been inside a library sine 2019 but I do borrow my eaudio books from the library, Libraries have come so far sine their begining..
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Good for you, Nancy. I did rewarding consulting for 12 years post-retirement. I worked with community members who want to improve kids’ health and the quality of our food system, and helped youth and adults learn and apply systems thinking to their collaborations. It was what I loved about my job before I retired., but without a boss or someone else’s schedule. Just when I was ready to retire for the second time, Covid hit. That worked for me because I didn’t have to tell anyone “no”. (Okay—I did say yes to a small local non-profit working to create a modern system of animal justice. Couldn’t say no to that!) At almost 74, I am happy to be re-retired. And I cheer you on. I love libraries too.
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It sounds perfect! Congratulations.
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This is sooo adorable! Sounds like it’s going well. Wish I could find something similar … if I can convince myself to finish the book first … LOL. Congratulations.
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Congratulations! I love books and found this interesting as I thought
how great it would be to own a bookstore.
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Our parents both went back to work after retiring. Mom told me that after retiring she responded to a Village Green nursing home ad for volunteers to feed patients. They asked her what she did before she retired. She said she was a nurse, and they hired her at a salary to hand out meds.
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I love this! It fulfills a dream for you and an absolute necessity for the library. Win-win 🙂
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Every day is a good day to do what you love. I volunteered at our local medical center yesterday. It’s never too late to spend your days feeling happily productive. It’s what (at 82) keeps me smiling and happily rising to meet each new day! Good for you, {{{Nancy}}} ❤
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Good for you! When I was in college, I had to take a campus job for 12 hours a week as part of my financial aid package. I was able to do six of those hour in the library, and thought that was fantastic. Honestly, I think I would have majored in library science if the college I went to offered it.
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Good for you and the library. I have been retired for five years, and ocassionaly think about working or volunteering somewhere. But so far, I haven’t gotten past the thinking stage.
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Any work in a library has to be a good thing!
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That’s wonderful, Nancy! There is something very freeing about working because you want to and not because you have to. I can picture quiet you assembling a lovely display of Nancy Roman books for everyone to find. Wait until they realize they have a bonafide published author in their midst. Libraries are wonderful!
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Congratulations! Isn’t it freeing to know that you can do whatever you want to after you’re retired, including going back to a job that you really love and on your own terms?
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I love your story, it inspires me, I ha a passion of being a Foundation phase and intermediate teacher just when I was about to start with my degree I got ill although I healed from that I still feel very weak and tired at most times and my focus is bad,my eyes are blurred. I am still passionate about what I want to achieve.
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ng for film shoot next Tuesday
Inbox
Rob Gagnon
Thu, Jul 15, 12:45 PM (1 day ago)
to Linda, me, Diana, Jenny, Jalen
We have all the questions answered and on his device!
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Nancy you are awesome and fearsome. I love your courage and the fact that you dont wait for outside validation before you act. Age is after all a number. Nice tip about your what you put on your resume. And you got the job!!!! Love it.
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dream job, except the accounting part!
MJ
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Congratulations, Nancy! I hope you continue to love your new job!
Dawnkinster, I love your comment!
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Working in a library would be awesome! I am happy for you. 🙂
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Sounds like the ideal job!
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Congratulations!!! Luv it! 🙂
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That is great! They need someone good, and you have skills not to be wasted. After working part time for several years, I decided to go back to full-time work at 62. I can seriously say that if it hadn’t been 2 miles from my house, for a really great person to work with I wouldn’t have done it. But it has been great. There have been days when I just come home and go straight to bed exhausted, but they are pretty rare. The best part is that the boss and I love to read and talk about what we are reading. Which brings me to sending you kudos on Sisters, Secrets, and the Junior Prom. I just finished it and LOVED it! It rang so true; I could smell the cafeteria and flashback to my favorite outfits. 🙂 Thanks for the fun read.
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