10/7/2014 1:10 PM
Sandy,
Many folks told me that you will know when it is time. In my case I actually had planned to try and retire when I was 55 because my wife who was a little older had already retired after 31 years with Lockheed and we had managed to make some pretty good financial investments that put us in a good place. With resources being constantly cut the last few years I kind of hung around to make sure my staff was in a good place and secure in their jobs. It got extremely difficult the last couple of years and because of a few previous health issues I really didn't want to stress about things I could no longer control at work. The crew knew I was kind of hanging around for them but could see that it was getting harder to keep a positive outlook for me.
After a particularly bad meeting with the higher ups one day I was just kind of down on the whole thing. I was sitting in my office and our foreman who I have known for thirty years walked into my office, took one look at me, and said, "just do what you have to do". I knew it was time to go and I wrote up my resignation that afternoon. Glad I made the decision when I did.
I'll let you know when we get down that way again and I'll be sure to bring my clubs. Take care my friend.
Gary K. Carls, CGCS, President - Oakland Turfgrass Education Initiative