My dad retired!

D

dogmom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
8,596
Reaction score
237
My dad just retired from security. He worked there for 20 years, walking the floors and dealing with emergencies and drunk people and other things. It was quite a shock for my mom as it's been a challenging issue between them for some time. One morning last month he just came home and said he is retired. He's 80. We went to his retirement party at his workplace and it was touching for me, actually, to see it. His supervisor put together a gift bag for him of a glass framed plaque which he made for my dad - it had a picture of him with his cuffs, shield, name badge, and everything. And he had the party <pizza, drinks> for him where he invited other officers and other workers in the building who my dad knew and worked with or saw around there. He shared memories of when he first met my dad and how they worked together, and there were some other nice things.
Then the supervisor walked with my dad and us out of the building for the last time, and walked with us to the car. I thought it was a very kind thing for him to. The plaque got me teary. My dad hung up the plaque on the wall in my parents' office.

My parents moved recently and now they go to the beach all the time together:)
 
Congratulations to your dad for his 20 years of service. That's amazing that he was able to work until he was 80. Good for him! :)

That was a very nice retirement ceremony for him. Those traditions of recognition are important.

I hope your parents have an enjoyable long-time vacation together.
 
:ty:Reba. I'm proud of my dad doing what he did those years. He's always been in great physical shape and tells stories about the time such-and-such happened. He used to work security at a warehouse where a lot of big rigs came in and one time when he was there was an emergency he dealt with, where one of the rig drivers had some kind of accident where his hand got caught somehow in something and almost <or was, not sure> completely severed.

I love seeing my folks - whose relationship has always been especially rocky/difficult to the point of being verbally/emotionally violent in my childhood - seem to relate to each other, feel more at ease with each other and enjoy the company. My mother comes from a background in which she was physically and emotionally abused and never had any counseling for it so that did affect how she deals with things.
But they seem really happy now in their new place and doing things together!
Now my dad is going swimming again, he grew up swimming in Lake Michigan in Chicago.
 
congratulations on your dad,hope your dad has long and happy retirement
 
dogmom said:
:ty:Reba. I'm proud of my dad doing what he did those years. He's always been in great physical shape and tells stories about the time such-and-such happened. He used to work security at a warehouse where a lot of big rigs came in and one time when he was there was an emergency he dealt with, where one of the rig drivers had some kind of accident where his hand got caught somehow in something and almost <or was, not sure> completely severed.

I love seeing my folks - whose relationship has always been especially rocky/difficult to the point of being verbally/emotionally violent in my childhood - seem to relate to each other, feel more at ease with each other and enjoy the company. My mother comes from a background in which she was physically and emotionally abused and never had any counseling for it so that did affect how she deals with things.
But they seem really happy now in their new place and doing things together!
Now my dad is going swimming again, he grew up swimming in Lake Michigan in Chicago.
Click to expand...

I was going to say that your dad much be in great physical shape to work till he was 80 yo. My dad never got to retried he dies when he was about 75 yo and worked right up to his last day. That is great your parents where able to work things out. My dad was very abusive and my mom came from a quite family and was not use to the verbally/emotionally violent environment that came with living with dad. It sound likes our dads would had gotten along .
 
dogmom said:
:ty:Reba. I'm proud of my dad doing what he did those years. He's always been in great physical shape and tells stories about the time such-and-such happened. He used to work security at a warehouse where a lot of big rigs came in and one time when he was there was an emergency he dealt with, where one of the rig drivers had some kind of accident where his hand got caught somehow in something and almost <or was, not sure> completely severed.
Click to expand...
I'm glad that he was able to share his experiences with you. Those are precious.

...they seem really happy now in their new place and doing things together!
Now my dad is going swimming again, he grew up swimming in Lake Michigan in Chicago.
Click to expand...
Excellent!
 
Congrats on your dads retirement, and at his age is an achievement!!! My father retired at 47 after 30 years service with the police force. By law in uk he couldn't claim pension until he reached 65 so he did a lot of odd jobs for people until my mom finally retired, they moved to Austria, my dad is now 67 and had been getting his pension for 2 years (a very healthy amount) and he's happy pottering around people gardens helping them with their gardens as well laying new patio at his house (think its 12x40 feet long maybe longer) such a big job doing alone! He had to do cement first as when he pulled up the old patio there were 10 feet diameter 6 feet deep hole!!! It was a shocker! Very surprised that the patio didn't cave in.

Anyway I miss him as he's such a lovely man.
 
Congratulations to your father! I hope they have a lot of fun in retirement. :)
 
Congratulations .. always nice hearing someone was able to reach retirement and live to enjoy it. I look fw to it in 11 years.
 
That's wonderful....poor man, his feet must be tired. Security is very hard work, people just don't know. I'm glad he went out in good circumstances. My Dad was self employed so went the business went out, he didn't get even a card. I'm glad your Dad was able to enjoy his party and I hope his retirement benefits will give him peace of mind too.

Laura
 
:ty:, much appreciate everybody here coming on and see my story about my dad:)

yes, you're right about the significance of sharing those experiences, Reba! He has lots of memories of different things like the security, and growing up in the city of Chicago, being in the Naval Reserves and so on, that he likes to recount. I'm glad he's here so we can do that:)

yeah, his feet and he sure did get tired, sometimes, especially as it was the most recent security post <where he left from just now> was a very old, multi-story city building and the AC wasn't so great; also there were sometimes problems with flooding due to pipes bursting in winter, or water/sewage backup; also dealing with break-ins and party problems w/the clubs. But he liked to walk and even now he likes to get up and go walking outside in their new location at home, which is more rural than when they lived in their house. He likes to go walking in the woods.

wow, overthepond - 30 years on the police force is a long time! I'm glad for you and your family that he was able to do that, in the profession, and is now enjoying his life in Austria! Seems like he's sure keeping busy there but I can understand why you miss him:aw:

:wave: whatdidyousay! I know you've discussed your family before and the hard times. I'm sorry about what's happened to you:aw:
yeah my parents relationship improved over the course of many years, they used to fight <yelling, my mom threw things> a lot when I was a child. Individually my parents were always very kind to me specifically but they often weren't kind to each other. We had a lot of financial problems and we could have qualified for Food Stamps but my mom had a beloved aunt who sent us money.
My folks got through and it's amazing to see them now, busy and enjoying their time with each other and in their new home.

:wave:Botti, Frisky,:ty: for congrats and well wishes for my dad. I think they're actually going on a trip sometime soon!

SilentRider, I wish the best for you in your retirement sometime, do you have any special plans?
 
Back
Top