I have a sense of freedom.

I think it would be hard for me to go back to work. To be gainfully employed again. I've adjusted so well to retirement. Been almost 12 years already. And to think, I once dreaded retirement. Thought I wanted to work (as a writer for newspapers) forever. I envisioned going until I dropped dead. They'd have to carry me out. From my desk. Well, in a sense, I didn't retire. I've never stopped writing. But retirement gave me freedom. To be my own boss. To set my own schedule. To write what I want to write. And when I want to. It's almost all pleasure now. Not that it wasn't before. Still was. But I was compelled to -- well, go to work. To be in a certain place. Retirement has given me more time to be myself. Time to think. About life. To make sense out of things. Time for leisure. To proceed at my own pace. I actually write more now than ever in my life. Out of pure joy of putting words on paper. Or in a computer. I write a blog. A journal. And not least, letters of love. I can't get through a day without writing. I was born to do this. In my own way. And the older I get, the more I live. In my own way. Fewer and fewer people tell me what to do. I'm my own man. I have a sense of freedom. --Jim Broede