Retirement!

Is it time to retire?

Here are some reasons why I should make this my last year in education:

• This is year thirty-four as a teacher or school administrator.
• Graft versus Host Disease is beating me up with no sign of retreat.
• Drug side effects make functioning at school difficult.
• The retirement pension would be virtually the same as my current paycheck.
• By the end of a school day, my muscles are so fatigued due to the transplants, it hurts to just walk.
• I may need a second winter job to pay medical bills.
• The doctors are telling me to not work.

Reasons to not retire:

• I'm not finished.

I'm not the best teacher, nor the best musician, nor the best conductor.  I could go on and on about my deficits.  But I do have a conscience, I care deeply about the well being of my students.  As they advance from 9th to 12th grade, they mature into adulthood as citizens who respect others, who have an understanding for beauty through music and they will all have a lifetime memory of huge accomplishment.

I'm not retiring.