An update from Pat Dougherty

Here’s an update from Pat Dougherty, BJ Engraving Department retiree

By Pat Dougherty
Yes, there is life after retirement. I am totally convinced that 'retirement' is much more than a vision of just sitting down in your Lazyboy rocker and doing nothing. Doing nothing is borrrrrrring!

With that in mind, after retiring from the engraving department, I got a job at Acme packing groceries and chasing carts. Had a ball with the kids I worked with. Was I ever that naive about life? I probably was but I chose to not remember. (Selective memory you know. It's one of the perks of my age group.) At any rate there was enough fodder for a half dozen soap operas to be found in the store. Single mothers struggling to make ends meet - Marriage break-ups.- engagements. - In-store romances. - teen pregnancies - Young boys (& girls) who never had to do a lick of work or follow orders trying to adjust to a brand new world. And that's just the help. Customers were just as varied and just as much fun. I loved them all. Got to play Santa the last couple of years. Gave out candy canes to the kids. I will never forget an elderly lady who came up to me with a sly grin and whispered that she really hadn't been a very good girl this past year. So I whispered back to her, " In that case you get two candy canes." I will never forget the look on her face.

However all good things have to come to an end and I had to leave the Acme because of a bad back and knee. Just couldn't hack the bending over to back bags and pushing the carts around the parking lot. I really miss working with the folks there.

Got a new job as the custodian at St. Joseph's church in Cuyahoga Falls. It's part-time and lot less hectic than the Acme. I open and close the church and work at my own pace to keep the place clean. If I get tired and can just sit down and rest. Can't beat the atmosphere. Just me and God. We have had quite a few interesting conversations. Mostly I talk and He listens. But every once in a while He gets a word in edgewise.

Since I left the BJ, Liz and I have managed to add a couple of grand kids for a total of 7. The icing on the cake however, was the arrival 18 months ago, of our first great grandson Kai David Nelson.
My woodworking has been slow this winter - too cold in the garage. However I will be finishing a hope chest for my granddaughter Malinda. It's a graduation present. She will be getting a chemical engineering degree from UA in May.

Trying my hand at Bonsai. Have killed 5 plants so far. Where is Art Krummel when I need him? Maybe I should just stick to working with the timber rather than trying to grow it.

Read the BJ blogspot every day. Really enjoy reading about old friends and co-workers.