My Husband is Retiring

He’s retiring again. My husband Dave retired from his job in the Hanover School Division two years ago. The school division had a lovely dinner for him and all the other retirees. He was given a gift and John Peters the school superintendent at the time made a complimentary speech about Dave. He even read excerpts from a letter a former student had written in praise of Dave’s work in the classroom. Dave’s colleagues at the SRSS also gave him a gift and made a movie about Dave.

         Now Dave is retiring again. He has decided to quit his job at the International Christian School in Hong Kong where he’s been working as a history and physical education teacher for the last two years. He is tired of meetings and paperwork and wants time to hone his golf game.  I will fly to Hong Kong next August to continue teaching but he will remain in Manitoba for a couple extra months playing golf till the Steinbach Fly- In closes for the season. Then he’ll join me in Hong Kong where he can golf all year round and where we can continue our holiday travels to interesting parts of the world we’d still like to visit.

       Dave wasn’t expecting another retirement celebration like the one he had in Steinbach. The teaching staff at most international schools is so transient there is little fan fare when it comes to ending your career. In a school as large as the one where we teach every June twenty or more teachers move on and are replaced by a batch of new recruits. 

           Dave was surprised this week however when the boys on his senior basketball team threw a retirement party to thank him for being their coach. He walked into my classroom to pick me up for what he thought was a dinner date with another couple, only to find the room adorned with streamers and his boys ready to burst into song. They had chosen to sing a Bob Dylan tune, Forever Young that they knew was their coach’s favorite.

           The boys had collected money to buy Dave a special golf club that they had ordered from the United States. A fellow teacher who is one of Dave’s golfing buddies here in Hong Kong had given the boys golf club shopping advice. Two of the boys made speeches. They had a card on which they had all written messages of appreciation and one of the guys had made a video of each of the players thanking Dave in person for what he had meant to them.

          One of the boy’s mothers had ordered pizza, Greek salad and spaghetti and a huge cake. She delivered all the food to the school on time for the party. Dave was overwhelmed and even a little emotional as he thanked the boys and gave them a last bit of advice. He even told them ‘the round was on him’ if any of them would like to go out on the golf course and try out his new club with him. He told the boys he would think of them every time he used the golf club they had given him.

         Since discovering he is leaving our school other principals in Hong Kong have contacted Dave wondering if he would like to work for them. Through his coaching he has gained a solid reputation with schools where his teams have competed. If he takes one of them up on their offer who knows. He might even manage to finagle a third retirement celebration out of the deal.