In all that I experience in life, I consider myself a man of strong faith. There is a Scripture that all things work for the good of those who love Christ. I hold fast to this nugget of hope particularly when it comes to the challenges that I’ve faced in the ups and downs of employment that I’ve experienced. Having well-paying grant funded positions come to an end or being asked to take an assignment that I didn’t quite see coming.
And through it all, I’m also human. With these changes come the whys and why nots, the uncertainty and the doubt. In other words the thinking, feeling human being often gets disconnected from the spiritual trusting person. One of the worries that I often have is whether or not I will be able to retire comfortably. And there are extremes that I’ve seen in my life. I had a former work colleague named Carl, whose dad was a mechanic in a junkyard in Sunflower County.
When it was all said and done, Carl’s father was found dead with a wrench in his hand under the hood of a car. He was 80 years old and still working when he took his last breath. And from my conversations with Carl, his father would have wanted it to end differently. “Son, I just wished I would have saved a little more money when I was younger,” the father would often tell Carl. We can’t stop that inevitable end of life, but it certainly would be great to control the narrative of the last couple of decades by planning, saving, and examining one’s financial situation.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, If I were a congressman or representative, I would rise to the chamber floor and recognize my uncle Napoleon Parker. Back on December 15, he spent his last day working for Bunge after 44 years of employment. Napoleon is my wife Teresa’s uncle by blood. Just days after graduating high school in 1978, he followed in his father Big Joe’s footsteps by taking a position at Bunge.
To my knowledge, this is the only job I have known him to have. Through recessions, NAFTA and the decline in Greenville’s industrial base, he has gotten out of bed for more than 16,000 mornings to answer the call.
It is worth noting that he retired at a very young age, 62 without any student loan debt or major health problems. In addition, his consistency and continuity in employment has helped him and his wife Cheryl raise three beautiful daughters who are now parents.
When anyone asks Napoleon what he plans to do in his retirement, he says, “nothing!” And that’s his prerogative. But I think between having five grandchildren, being a church leader and a house with a huge lawn, he will have plenty to do.
So, the retirement saga of Carl’s dad and my uncle paint a stark contrast with one another. One man literally worked until he died and another was blessed enough to put in the time to walk away on his own terms.
Of course, who would not want to pursue the path of Uncle Napoleon. But unfortunately, the world has changed so much with so many factors impacting the economy and the value that people place on sticking it out with one employer.
Personally, I see my story over the next two decades falling somewhere in between. At some point, I will file proper paperwork to draw a pension. But, like Carl’s dad, someone will probably find an old man three or four decades from now slumped over at a computer trying to write his last great piece of prose- doing something that I love.
Finally, just as my uncle paid homage to his father Big Joe by walking to work from the Northland Village Apartments on his last day of work, hopefully the man above would have given me the strength to walk over to the keyboard one final time. PS: Uncle Napoleon, be blessed in your retirement. I’ll get with you one day.
Patrick Ervin is editor of the Delta Democrat Times. Write him at patrickervin@ddtonline.com.
