Most high school students don't spend much time thinking about what it's like to retire and grow old. In this morning's chapel, two Dock Woods residents, both in their 80s, gave students a window into the experience—and assured them there's nothing to be afraid of.“Living doesn’t stop when we age. Life is just different,” said Joyce Shultz, who has lived at Dock Woods with her husband Harlan for nearly four years now. “We take more time to do things, but we have more time. Our faith is often stronger because we have had so many blessings and answers to our prayers. We no longer feel like we have to impress anyone—and we realize that we never did. And we realize that life has more joy when you are helping and serving others.”
The Shultz's give evidence to the idea that life begins—or at least begins again—at retirement. Harlan spent three years in the Navy and then enjoyed a 35-year career at Standard Pressed Steel. When he retired at at age 62, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by getting his pilot's license, and spent over a year building his own plane.
"My life has been full," he told students. "You have a lot to look forward to. Don't dread it."
Joyce was a teacher in the North Penn School District for 24 years. When she retired at age 60 she began a second career as a psychotherapist, and also took up writing. She now is the author or co-author of three books, including Models in Our Midst, an autobiography which also tells stories about the people who influenced her life, and It Takes a Church: God Moments of a Church Family, a collection of stories from people ages 13-90 at her church, Sanctuary United Methodist in North Wales. They are the kind of books she encourages everyone to write.
"Each evening we share our God moments from the day, and I keep them in a gratitude journal," Joyce said. "That’s our challenge—to think each day about the God moments in our lives and what we are grateful for.”
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