I don’t miss work, so why am I crying?

I have been retired now for 4½ years. I can honestly say that during that time I have never wanted to go back to work. I am a very lucky person to be able to enjoy a retired life travelling on Narrowboat Thuis around the canals and rivers of the UK. During the winter I get to go on long holidays and enjoy just having time.

So why this week did I find myself with tears rolling down my cheeks after finding an old work email?

Don’t get me wrong. I really loved working. I was passionate about work and passionate about my team. We worked hard, made a difference and had fun. Many work colleagues could not believe I was retiring early because I threw myself into everything I did.

The truth was that a few years earlier a friend had passed away and it had made me and Mandy re-evaluate everything in our lives. We had the opportunity to take some of those adventures we had always talked about and so with a bit of financial planning we moved on.

But when I was going through some old emails this week I came across the leaving video that my team had made for me when I retired in December 2020. It was a stark reminder of Covid, with everyone at home under lockdown, but each of them said some very lovely things about me and I realised that while I do not want to go back to work, I do miss being with my team.

So I raise a glass this week to GB, Gopal, Jamie, Jude, Kathy, Linda, Matt, Mike, Nat, Om, Prerana, Si, Toni, Veerle and all my previous teams. It was always a pleasure and I miss you.