Retirement Saga – Step #2

My 65th birthday neared. A retirement workshop in the summer of 2007 helped me prepare. I learned that I must sig nup for Medicare when I turned 65. The presenter advised us to sign up a couple months before my birthday.

So in November, I stuck my toe into the bureaucratic waters of retirement. I called our local Social Security Office and scheduled the telephone application interview.

I cleared my calendar for the 1:40 pm call. My cell phone vibrated to life, then played my ring tone. A female voice verified my identity then asked, “Well, what can I do for you, Honey?”

Uff Dah! In a sudden flash my middle age fell away and senior citizenship arrived.

We don’t ‘Honey’ each other in Minnesota so I asked the woman if she called from the South … say Virginia or Georgia. “No!” she answered, “I’m calling from Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border.”

Relief, I spoke with a solid Midwestern Iowan not a gracious, honey-voiced southerner!

The English language has long since lost different forms of address based on social intimacy. The Germans have ‘Du’ for my brother, and ‘Sie’ for my boss. We Americans barely retain the formal Mr Smith for a stranger and the inform first name for a friend. We do however, "Honey” our elders.

I have Medicare Part A now. I obtained a letter from my employer saying my prescription coverage equaled or exceed that offered by Medicare. I received wallet sized cards and documents with my Social Security Number splashed all over them, enough to make an Identity Thief chuckle with glee.

So now I’m ready for Retirement: Step 3.

The pictures come from the Annual Spring Hike my brother and I take each year.