Class Note 1989. Let’s talk about retirement. I’m hearing that some classmates have started doing it. A larger swath is just cosplaying, dabbling in semiretirement but still hooked to paid work. Most of us are likely fantasizing about when to make that move. So I scattered emails and texts to see where people stood. Below are a few candid admissions that may serve as inspo. I’ll ask again in a few years, believe me!
Last October Winnie DelliQuadri wrapped up a 28-year job with the City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, after getting cancer for the second and third time and deciding she wanted more playtime. She took a part-time barista job at a slope-side hotel—making it easier to ski daily—and then hiked all summer. “I feel like I’m in my 20s again. I encourage everyone to do this!”
I caught up with Nina Beattie, Esq., and Michael Eberstadt as they headed off to see polar bears. Nina has retired from law but stays active in Democratic politics. Michael remains in the restaurant business “but not full time by any means” and isn’t planning to give that up soon. He’s also writing a play, which takes time “in a good way.”
Soon after speaking from the Oval Office about Diwali, the Festival of Light, Harmeet Dhillon said, “I do not intend to ever retire. As Frost famously said, ‘I’ve got miles to go before I sleep,’ and I don’t think I am ever going to get there. I love my job as the head civil rights lawyer of America. It’s a dream come true.”
Brett Divers, who has led his private litigation firm in Tampa, Florida, for more than two decades, said, “I don’t have plans to retire anytime soon. I’ve got an active construction, surety, and mediation practice and am thankful to have terrific clients who trust me. So long as my health is good, I likely have at least another 10 years to go.”
When I rang up Michele Kelly (aka “Sha Sha”), she said, “Contemplating it. I’ve got a couple more earning years to go. I’m thinking about it in a ‘light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel’ kind of way; not wanting to pull back or get smaller. I am allowing myself to explode into dreams and visions and give them a chance to come to reality.”
Marnie Curry, Ph.D., upon returning from a big trip through Spain, wrote, “This was our inaugural empty-nest celebration trip. We hope to manage an annual excursion like this. I’m still tied to the Bay Area, especially given the caregiving partnership with my mom, now 81. We flirt with longer stays abroad and have a camper van to explore the great outdoors.”
Nicole Conte Stevens, a STEAM teacher at three Vermont elementary schools, said, “It’s only my third year in this position. I am learning and feeling challenged, so not really thinking about retirement. Maybe I’m a late bloomer or live too close to Dartmouth and am in lifelong student mode. I love to dream about my next career—in the arts?”
—Candace Locklear, 5829 Colton Blvd., Oakland, CA 94611; (510) 292-8216; evilpip@gmail.com; Robin Byrd, P.O. Box 660563, Arcadia, CA 91066; robinwinters@msn.com