Over the years I have heard wives somewhat fearfully talk about their anxiety at their husbands' retiring and how they will be together 24/7 unless and until new routines get worked out. They worry about their husbands' being in the way of their various routines.
For me it was mostly the loss of professional identity. People tend to look at men for what they do, be it a plumber, physician, engineer, accountant or whatever. For several years I found it difficult knowing how to respond to the inevitable "So, what do you do?" I finally settled on telling them I manage my investments which seemed to do it. Of course now at age 77 I can get by with saying I am retired.
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"No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth." Plato
“To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” Thomas Paine
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