Notes from Retirement

Episode 4: What I Think I’ll Miss

As retirement gets closer, I’m starting to notice the things that feel harder to leave than I expected. In this episode, I reflect on the rhythm of school life, being part of a community, and what it means to leave work that has shaped your identity for 35 years. A thoughtful look at what we carry with us when a long chapter begins to close.

Episode 3: To Pickleball or Not to Pickleball: That is the Question

To pickleball or not to pickleball? In this episode, I talk with two friends who have embraced pickleball in retirement. We laugh about how it started, but also explore something deeper — how having somewhere to go, people to see, and a routine can shape this next chapter of life.

Episode 2: Not Just When You Retire, But How You Retire

In this episode, I reflect on why I decided to retire after 35 years in education. This wasn’t a sudden decision, but something I had been thinking about for years. As I approach retirement, I share what this work has meant to me, along with what I’m noticing — from research and from others — about what makes this transition meaningful and what it might mean to build a life in this next chapter.

Episode 1: From First Years to Final Year (A Conversation with My Daughter)

In this episode, I sit down with my daughter, a teacher at the beginning of her career, while I retire after 35 years in education. We talk about what teaching looks like from two different stages of life, what this work has meant to us, and what we are both learning about work, identity and life across generations.

Episode 0: One Foot In, One Foot Out

In this first episode, recorded three months before retirement, I talk about what it feels like to be at the end of a long career and at the beginning of a new chapter. This podcast will follow the transition into retirement, the last day of work, and the first year of building a new life after a long career.