by Joe Coffman

Created on: September 21, 2010   Last Updated: September 22, 2010

As I approach retirement age, I’m filled with a sense of both dread and elation. After 35 years in the same profession, I’ve finally grown tired of the same old daily grind and am ready to have time to do the things that I want to do without the dread of unwanted responsibilities that a job brings with it. Yet at the same time I have a feeling of impending risks that come with getting older.

Although I currently feel as physically and mentally well as I did 20-30 years ago, I can’t help but think about the fact that my body is starting to wear down form years of use. I’ve gotten used to the various aches and pains that go along with aging…they don’t really bother me. In fact, I welcome muscle aches that are the result of workouts I’ve had previously. They’re like badges of accomplishment from doing something good for myself. In fact, if I didn’t have some aches and pains after a workout, I would almost feel like I didn’t do enough to make it worthwhile.

In the back of my mind I know the longer I live, the more likely I am to develop some sort of debilitating, or even life threatening illness or disability. I already have a good bit of arthritis in my knees and genetically, my parents died of lung cancer and heart attack, so what chance do I have to avoid their fates? I do everything I can; eat right, exercise regularly and avoid risky behavior like smoking or overeating, but is all that enough to keep myself from a similar ending?

Every time I have a sore throat or a slight muscle ache in my chest, I wonder if it isn’t the beginning of the end. Will I end up withering away in a drab hospital bed like my poor mother, or will sudden, sharp chest pains be the last thing I experience before my time on earth is up like dear old dad? I do have regular checkups and so far, the doctor says things are good, but doctors can only guess at your condition based on clues from various tests. They don’t really know for sure what’s going on inside your body until you develop symptoms, and by then it’s often too late. I hear story after story of supposedly healthy people dropping dead every day.

The thing that really gets me is that when I read the obituaries on a regular basis, (to see how many of my friends are gone), I often see people that have passed away at age 61, 64 or some age just before they reach full retirement age, and I think to myself, “How unfair that they worked all their

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