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| Thanks to all my friends, postal and customers, who made my last day memorable! |
But no. Here I am, pretty much wide-awake at 4:30 in the morning with thoughts running around in my head like a hamster on a wheel – running fast but going absolutely nowhere.
Did I say it’s 4:30 in the morning? Well of course I did. I thought I’d log onto the Internet and get some change of address forms printed up for our local Post Office, and then check some mileages on the maps, look for potential places to stay each night, and then do some more appliance shopping. (We’ve got most of the big stuff picked out… but I still need to get an over-the-stove microwave and hood and some ceiling fans picked out.)
Did I say I logged onto the Internet? No, I did not. I said I thoughtI’d log onto the Internet. Sometimes the things you’d like to do and the things you’re able to do are two different things entirely. And this morning, at least here in Garden Valley, Idaho… the Internet is missing in action. What a pity I wasn’t able to just roll back over and catch another hour or two of sleep.
Not being able to access the Internet has allowed me to sit down and write this long overdue entry to my blog. Being that it’s really too early to tell whether my first day of retirement will be a high or a low, let me tell you about my last day of work, which was definitely a “high”.
Trying to get done in a timely manner was impossible; people were stopping me along the well to say goodbye, wish me success in retirement, or give me a card. In a few of those cards were the “signatures” of their dogs, also wishing me well. A couple of cards even contained pictures of the dogs… lest I should forget! At one stop I found a package that contained a framed portrait of the little horse that I had been sharing part of my daily apple with for the last fifteen years.
For many years there has been a “tradition” in our section that some of the letter carriers (whose routes were close enough to each other) would get together for a Saturday lunch. One of my postal friends who started this lunch habit with me retired from the Post Office almost six years ago; he was in attendance at the lunch, as was my wife, Valerie. She had always heard about our lunches but, because her routes were never close by, was never able to attend.
Done with lunch and back to work, I continued in pretty much the same vein seeing people and saying good-byes. Then, toward the end of the route one of my customers asked if I could come inside just for a moment. As I rounded the corner into their kitchen and dining area I found several neighbors sitting or standing by the counter—all of whom started singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. This was followed up with a little lemonade, some questions and answers about our move to Florida, and then a round of thank-you and goodbyes. About fifteen minutes after this miniature surprise party and I was facing my final mailbox. And then there were none…
The only thing left now was to drive back to the Post Office, check in and then “check out”. I rounded up my personal belongings into a tub and waddled out the door for the last time. When I got to my little VW bug, I unlocked the passenger door and placed all the stuff inside on the passenger seat, locked the door and closed it. There in the front seat was all that was left of my postal career, and it was at that very moment that reality truly hit me: I had just locked my key inside the damned car!
And so I owe many thanks to the people I served over the years on my route, and to the fine crew that I worked with… and especially to a carrier named Violet, who happened to have a membership with AAA – and because of that was able to reunite me with my car key and get me on the road to retirement!
