Retirement: don’t fight it - embrace it.
By Des Evans - 05/09/2007
I have always found Mature Times interesting, and there’s usually something for everyone with loads of information. So I thought I would share my experiences with your readers - particularly those who experience loneliness or cannot settle into retirement.
You see, I don’t feel any age. I believe that age starts in your mind and in the mind of others - and you are never too old to start a new venture. It is often said that everyone has a book inside them to write, so at the age of 81 I decided to give it a go. Here is a brief synopsis of my life leading up to that decision.
I was born in Birmingham in 1925, educated in state schools and left at the age of fourteen. I worked for Ten Acres & Stirchley Co-operative society, delivering Bread and Cakes. I started out to work about seven o’clock in the morning, cycling to work, which was about seven miles, collected the horse - Kitty - from the stables and walked her half a mile through the streets of Stirchley to the Bakery. (This was always the junior’s job collecting the horse).
As soon as the Bread Cart was loaded, we set off six miles to our destination. Usually in the week we finished about five o’clock, but on Saturdays we were much later, finishing about seven thirty. A lot depended on the weather, especially in the winter if we had snow or heavy frosts. I earned nine shilling and sixpence per week to start with, but we did get Wednesday afternoon off!
In November 1942 I enlisted in the RAF and qualified as a flight mechanic. I had one or two temporary postings before being assigned to 97 Squadron, Bomber Command at Bourn in Cambridgeshire in October 1943 to work on Lancaster Bombers. In April 1944 the squadron moved to Coningsby, Lincolnshire and I stayed there until February 1945. By this time the War had entered its final stages, the allied Air forces were now in command of the skies meeting very little opposition from the Luftwaffe. I then volunteered for an overseas posting: spending the last eighteen months of my service in Malta.
My war service over I was demobbed in February 1947, returned home and married the girl next door in 1950. My wife, Jean, blessed me with a daughter and son who between them blessed us with seven grandchildren. I retired in 1985 having worked mostly in insurance. With time on my hands I took a course on carpentry and with my wife, became interested in Antiques, attending many auctions. My interests focussed mainly on restoring old furniture.
The new millennium arrived and with it became involved with the new technology of Computers and eagerly searched the Web for ideas. Through sheer luck I came across a Website connected to my old squadron and in 2002 became its Webmaster for four years before retiring in May 2006. Jean and I moved to Shropshire in 1963 and now live in the market town of Much Wenlock.
Another phase of my life had ended and so at the age of 81 looked for other ideas to occupy my time. A few years ago during a quiet spell I had the notion to write a crime novel. I spent many hours thinking up plots but when I became Webmaster for my old squadron I put the manuscript away. In June 2006 just after I retired as Webmaster I came across the manuscript again and so set about editing and thinking up new plots. I emailed various publishers and in October of 2006 my book "Death is a Member" was finally accepted by a London publisher and so my venture to being an author had become a reality.
Since I wrote it I have become bitten by the writing bug. I had sent off my final script to the publishers and waited for their response. I had time to spare. So it was inevitable that I would try and write a sequel to "Death is a Member" using the same main characters. It was when I sat down and looked at the blank screen staring back at me I began to have doubts. Where do you start.? In the first book, I had over a few years played around with my script at different times, put it away and then came back to it. Many times I altered it.
This time it was different. I wanted to plan my characters and try to visualise how I would deal with them. However I dismissed that idea and decided to take a chance by figuring out the start of a mystery that had taken place many years before and see what developed. To have no preconceived plan at all, but just letting inspiration guide me was very exilarating. It felt great to have power over a character and to know I could let him survive or take him or her out when and where I liked.
I’d love to know how other more experienced writers than me set about their task of bringing a book to fruition.
Please contact me on des@desandjean.freeserve.co.uk. Or write to 16 Oakfield Park, Much Wenlock Shropshire TF13 6HJ, Tel: 01952 728317
For a review of "Death is a Member", click below.