“What did you do during the plague, Grandma?” I can see their little, shining, upturned faces eagerly awaiting my answer. Actually, it will probably have to be Great-Grandma.
“Well, my babies, I finally published that novel I’ve been meaning to write for 65 years.”
As I have been telling people, the first novel took 65 years, the second one will have to be faster.
In fact, I have been working on the next book, Litany of Lies, although the title may change. I am now thinking of it as “the second in the Kestrel Jonas mystery series.” I am on a roll.
It is a stretch to see how my finishing the book has to do with the general status of being between 60 and 80 years old (the Fourth Score) except that most of the people in my age group probably had similar “hopes, dreams, and aspirations” when they were growing up.
In fact, being a writer was only one of mine. Being Miss America and a famous geneticist also were high on the list. Those things will likely never happen, since I think I have aged out of the Miss America pageant. I am probably too old for Mrs. America, as well, if that even still exists.
I am unlikely to run a marathon, fly to the moon, win an Academy Award (I already have my speech written), or win the lottery. But I did publish the book.
I prefer to think of my writing as my third career. I had almost fully raised my family (career one) when I went to work and built my Clinical Research career (career two). Now that I have retired this is the next pathway for me; one I didn’t expect to take at this point in my life.
Heading out in a new direction is daunting. Even thinking about doing it is exhausting. For me, it has helped that I joined Mystery Writers of America and have been blessed with meeting a lot of people who share my goals. I found my tribe and it has made all the difference.
I have belonged to other tribes. There was the tribe of young, stay-at-home mothers. We baked bread, made our own kombucha, clipped grocery coupons, signed the kids up for swimming lessons, and supported each other through the vicissitudes of marriage and family. That tribe has dispersed as life took us on different paths. Some divorced, or were widowed, some went back to school, or took jobs. Change was inevitable because the children always grow up.
I still maintain ties to some of the work tribe that developed over the 25 years of my career. Changing jobs was a rite of passage that meant the faces of the tribe constantly changed. Many of those tribemates are fond memories and a few are still dear friends.
When I first retired I set out to find my new “peeps” and signed on for various activities: garden club, CASA, and Fire Safe Council. I wanted to contribute to something meaningful and fulfilling. All of the activities provided that, but I have let them fall away as I become more involved with identifying what I really want to be doing with my time.
Are there things you’ve always wanted to do, places you’ve wanted to see, differences you want to make? What are they? It isn’t too late to take a new path.
***
Lexa M. Mack is an avid mystery reader and writer who lives with her husband, a very fat cat, seven chickens, and forty thousand honeybees in the Sierras near South Lake Tahoe. She spends her days blogging about the surprises of retirement and dreaming up creative ways to murder people.
She published her first mystery novel, Legacy of Lies, in 2022.
Check out her blog on aging at Fourthscore - Aging, Later Years.
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