A major change in my world came in the spring of 2021, when I officially retired as a teacher in the Westerville City Schools. The choice to retire was filled with many mixed feelings:
- I had taught high school English, Speech, and Theatre for 36 years. That was my life!
- I turned 62 that spring. I was getting a bit tired, and was a bit out of the loop.
- I finally reached the top of the pay scale at WCS! (As a side note, when I was hired in Westerville, I had 16 years of experience, but was placed at 10 years on the pay scale, so it took me a little longer to get to the top!)
- I was entering the State Teachers Retirement System at a good place regarding benefits and health insurance coverage.
- I was looking forward to a break in the routine, but I knew I was going to miss that big part of my world.
When the Covid Pandemic hit, that was a big incentive for me to grab on to this retirement option. In March of 2020, we all had to do "school from home" for the rest of the school year, and for the 2020-2021 school year, I was teaching half of the student body from home through an online English program. I spent all day every day sitting in front of my computer keeping up with what my 150 students were doing - or NOT doing, as the case may be. This was exhausting and frustrating as I watched many of my students fade out of "doing school". Some succeeded, some just got by, and some totally failed. In the spring of 2021, I indicated to my principal that I would stay on if they wanted me to continue with the home schooling for English, but that was not going to be happening, so I indicated that I would be retiring. Period.
I knew I had to have something productive to do, so I got involved immediately at WARM - Westerville Area Resource Ministry. WARM provides food assistance to anyone living in the Westerville School District who meets income eligibility requirements. I went in as a volunteer, and tried several different jobs. I ended up choosing to be a Dry Goods Stocker. I did that every week for about a month. As a Stocker, I would go through the boxes and bins in the warehouse to pull items that were needed on the Market Shelves. One thing I learned very quickly is that I didn't have much strength in my back. Part of that was from my age. Part of that came from sitting in front of my computer for more than a year instead of walking around a large school building every day! As I tried to lift and move boxes of canned goods, I learned that I needed to gain some strength in my back!!! I really enjoyed my first month at WARM, and I knew I was going to stay active there.....
And then.... all of my work at WARM stopped on July 4 when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the ER at St. Ann's Hospital. I had a Meningioma that had been growing in my brain for about 20 years. I was put on heavy meds (Levetiractam or Keppra), told I wasn't allowed to drive, and the work began to schedule me for brain surgery.
Stay tuned... in my next entry, I will explain more about my surgery and recovery period.
Thanks for joining me again! Feel free to comment on my blog entries as the spirit moves you!
Stay Happy and Enjoy the Summer Weather!
😊 Amy
