It’s been some time since I last contributed to this blog. No, I haven’t retired from being retired, there is still plenty to say! It’s Autumn now in Australia and where I live the trees are putting on a brilliant and memorable show of colour. It’s the last performance of Nature before the dead of Winter. Is there a message for us here?
Retirement, as I have pointed out before, is the time when we have the opportunity to show our true selves. The time to develop and employ all those interests and skills which were unexplored or suppressed while we were making a living, raising a family and working to establish a secure retirement. However, too often, perhaps because of ill-health or other personal circumstances, retirement starts off with joy but fades away into what can only be called senility. Western society suggests that is the way to go. We are encouraged to gradually diminish as personalities, largely ignored and often ensconced in some dreary ‘old people’s home’. Out of sight, out of mind.
Other societies and civilisations are not like that. The older members of families and tribes, Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori for example, are supported, venerated, and respected for their lifetimes of experience and associated wisdom. The difference lies in the Western obsession with the primacy of the nuclear family. But once the children have matured and gone, only the parents are left, and, all too often, because of divorce or death, just one parent. The family house is too big for two or just one, the roles of parent and breadwinner are over, so a retirement home seems the inevitable next step. We are expected to fade away, no fuss.
If that is what you want, what you have looked forward to throughout your earlier life, don’t let me discourage you. However, my thesis is that our retired years can be the most joyful and productive times of our lives. Will you be remembered for long after you fade away in a retirement home? Or will they say “She/he went off in a blaze of glory!” So what are the momentous activities in retirement that will keep the relatives talking about you long after you have gone? See next blog.
Renaissance not Retirement 
hi henry collins after reading this im sure we are related is your mum lilly ??
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Hi Tanya. Thanks for your response to my blog. We may have a connection and it would be good to know some of my more distant relatives.. What else can you tell me about your side of the family? As you can imagine I have to be careful about being spammed! Henry Collins
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hi henry thank for replying i have sent u some emails too. My dad is meryn jones his mum hilda and dad george r jones i believe your mum is lilly collins nee jones your grand parents richard jones and margret hope this helps and i have the right person regards tanya
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PS… two of your mums siblings were margaret and amy ?
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Hi Tanya Yes, I remember them. They had big families in my grandparents time. Lots of children died early in life because of no vaccination and contraception was uncommon.
Tell me about yourself! You can find out a lot about me from my blogs. By the way, I write 2 other blogs: ‘A vet’s view of the human animal’ and ‘An old codger’s comments’.
CheersHenry
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Hi i am living in Portsmouth uk have 4 children all boys , all grown up now 2 still at home .Your cousin Mervyn( my dad) is 78 this year and still works 3 days a week and loves painting lives close by. His brother Brian (wife Barbara)who u might remember sadly passed away a few months back so dad is the last of his siblings now i have a great family pic of the jones if u’d like to see it ? . is your email still working ? as i can send it to there .pls check as emails might have gone to your spam box? lovely to have made contact with u dad will be over the moon as he remembers visiting u as a boy .
regards tanya
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Hi Tanya. Thanks for the info about your family. To be honest, I have no recollection of Mervyn or Brian. A lot of time has passed since I was in the UK, and when there we seem to have mixed with the other Jones relatives. I would be very pleased to see the photo of them all.
My sister Janet says she was aware of cousin Mervyn, but has never talked about him with me. My email address is henryhenrycollins@yahoo.com.au if you or your dad would like to make more direct contact. Best wishes, Henry
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Hi Henry,
Great to meet you and lucky at St Vincents outside garden. Refreshing to hear your thoughts on life . I hope I have your energy if I make your age! Let’s not mention the war. Stay eternally young! Paul
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