9 Retirement and Reinvention 249impinge on travel time. While I was working, I had turned down efforts to get
me involved with our homeowners association. I had agreed that after retiring,
I would take my turn. I quickly ended up as president and am now serving my
sixth, and last year, in that position. I had also agreed to continue my involve-
ment with Baltimore Experience Corps, an AmeriCorps program for older adults
working with elementary school children. I had helped start the program in my
agency and by the time I retired, it had grown to three hundred volunteers, serv-
ing in 20 public schools. To keep it growing, we determined to separate it into
a new organization and I agreed to be an officer on the new board of directors.
This ended up being a major commitment for the next 4 years.
Keeping in contact with my former colleagues was a priority for me
because many of them were real friends. I jumped at the chance to help a new
organization focused on organizing a network of community development
and housing agencies in Maryland. Using my contacts, I began reaching out
to the many agency directors in Baltimore, convincing them to join. One of my
recruits became president of the organization. This occurred during a period
of serious economic downturn and it was so disheartening to see good, but
small organizations simply dry up for lack of funds. With executive directors
being stretched to the max, I volunteered to be an advocate for maintaining
public funding and we had some successes. As I got more removed from my
formal workdays, I decided that my role in the network should lessen, but
I still attend meetings and keep in touch with people.
Our travel schedule continued to fill 2 to 3 months of each year with a mix
of foreign and domestic travel, some with various family members and some on
our own.
Then, a close friend who still has years to go before retirement convinced
me to partner with him on a consulting proposal. We were the successful
bidders and for the next 18 months I was deeply engaged in developing a
demonstration program to mobilize older people as community volunteers
and to expand opportunities for intergenerational and multicultural activ-
ities in neighborhoods. This was an assignment that allowed me to bring
all my skills and knowledge to bear, but it also offered me flexibility. For
instance, my wife and I were able to combine working trips to San Francisco
and Arizona with vacation plans. It was also a learning experience for me
as I became more aware of the differences between generations and various
approaches to bridging the gaps.
At this point, my wife was looking for something more structured in her
life because our travel schedule played havoc with her chorus, summer musi-
cal activities, and part-time clinical social work practice. She discovered the
Renaissance Institute, a lifelong learning program near our home. She joined
eagerly, and I agreed to try it out. Five years later, we are both hooked. Now, dur-
ing the fall and spring semesters, our Tuesdays and Thursdays are filled with a
variety of interesting classes. I am nearly finished writing a memoir after several
years in a writing class. We have learned about Islam, modern art, astronomy,
bridge, and sharpened up on current events and computer skills. Sometimes
I take a course and occasionally I teach one. During the summer and winter
breaks, we join friends for pot lucks and visits to museums, schools, factories,
and other interesting places. There is no pressure; when our schedule involves
travel or just hanging out at the community swimming pool, that is what we do.