<p>My Dad was forced into retirement at age 70+. Its probably a blessing but he wanted to keep working. He feels that his father and brother died young due to early retirement. Dads dream was to work part time and travel the world. </p>
<p>My Mother has ampullary cancer (pancreatic) and had a whipple, chemo and radiation. She has done fabulous. Dad has been there 100% for her- cooking, washing clothes, even learned that there is a little lint thing in the dryer that needs to be cleaned out He gave her a dozen roses each week she finished chemo!</p>
<p>Now treatments are done, his employment is done and its time to find a new normal. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Simply put: time to have some fun. A project for the two of them could be to renew their relationship. Without the stress of kids, work, bills, etc. they now have the time to play newlyweds again. When your Mom is ready healthwise, they could take a few trips—one of his choice, one of her choice, and one of their choice.</p>
<p>Buy a nice camera and take up photography.</p>
<p>Take long walks every day. Maybe adopt a pet if they’re so inclined.</p>
<p>Make a point to have date nights. </p>
<p>Find an activity he enjoys. Find an activity she enjoys. Find an activity they both enjoy. </p>
<p>Live life and see the humor and joy in each day.</p>
<p>If he wanted to keep working … how about volunteering at a non-profit doing what he did at work? Or consulting part-time in his old field (for for-profits or non-profits)?</p>
<p>Do they have the funds and the strength for travel? If they do, now is the time!!
Possibly get a little adventurous, pick a European city that interests them and get a month long (inexpensive) studio apartment. At their own pace…take a few day trips from that perch. It’s a great way for seniors to travel and not exhaust themselves.</p>
<p>My in-laws like to take the guided bus tours. They don’t have to plan anything, they meet fun people and you have door to door service everywhere you go. </p>
<p>Cruises are usually a good idea as long as there isn’t a fire on board :D.</p>
<p>I agree with the volunteer work–maybe at a hospital for kids with cancer???</p>
<p>My father-in-law used to volunteer to help boy scouts get their badges. He also worked part time declassifying documents at the National Archives. It was always fun to find out what he was working on! My Dad bought a farm and grew grapes for a while. He wrote articles about foreign affairs for the local newspaper and he belonged to a club that gave talks to each other on various academic type topics. My mother joined the garden club, was on a couple of boards, and works at the library with the people who sell used books to raise money for the library. When they were younger they did quite a bit of traveling. Our local YMCA is full of retired guys who lift weights and chat with each other most mornings - some also play handball.</p>
<p>My father did consulting work until he was 75 and that pretty much “wound him down.” he and mom traveled for a decade until my father was unable to travel easily. They are still “hanging around” at 90 and 86 reading alot. I know a former CEO who volunteers his time at a local hospital. His wife was deceased and he met his “new wife” on his “new job.” She was a staff physician and she retired and now they both “volunteer.”</p>
<p>Forced into retirement at 70+… I think that’s a good thing. My last job ended when I was 54 and I sort of found my way to retirement: Can’t say I was “forced.” What type of work was he doing and where does he live?</p>
<p>Excellent advice here! You said he wanted to travel the world. If your mom is up to it, go for it!! There are universities who sponsor travel with faculty who can give an insiders views/knowledge of the locations. </p>
<p>Take adult education classes. There are lots of fun and interesting opportunities for that in many communities.</p>
<p>I have sadly seen many friends lose their spouses recently. In fact I am going to a memorial service tonight for a friend’s 58 year old husband who just passed away. Tell your dad that life isnt about what wo do for our vocation, its how we enjoy our avocation. HE should enjoy the time with friends and family.</p>
<p>Can he take up golf or tennis or some other sport? Another great way to get out and socialize. Most golf courses have leagues for retired people, either formally or informally.</p>
<p>Another option is to take classes at a local college. My grandpa did that after he retired–took classes for 20 years after he retired. Sure helped keep his mind sharp and was able to travel all over the world through various Elderhostl programs.</p>
<p>Excellent ideas here! My grandparents retired from DC to their home in the deep south were they spent many years volunteering in adult literacy classes. The freedom and joy they saw come into someone’s life who was 30, 40, 50 years old and willing to work hard to learn to read was amazing. It was their greatest passion. I never learned until I was much older what my grandfathers profession had been. His work in retirement was what he spoke of. </p>
<p>My dad runs and has overseen the development of a train museum, working to have a historic depot restored and relocated. My mom has learned to quilt (quite beautifully), play mahjong, travels, and volunteers at church. Oh, mom and dad aren’t married, so no joint hobbies except their grandchildren. ;)</p>
<p>My DHs parents are happily blowing through his inheritance and having a blast!! We hope we can have as much fun as they do. They play tennis, travel…a lot. Cruises, international, day trips, organize reunions in fun spots, go away for the weekend on the spur of the moment. They’re in a local wine club, FIL is on the HOA board, MIL plays mahjong. They host dinner parties a lot, hold season tickets to the local dinner theater, and garden like crazy. They make me tired!</p>
<p>One of the best things my parents did was to write their “autobiographies”…not a formal book, just a series of memories and vingettes, from one paragraph to several pages each. Early memories - the great flood of '37, their grandparents and other relatives, the depression, elementary school/teacher memories, etc. They took then to a copy shop and copied them and had them spiral bound and gave them to us for Christmas one year. (My dad passed away last month and it was wonderful to be able to go into the book to get stories to tell at his memorial service.)</p>
<p>Even if your parents think they haven’t done anything interesting, reading about the “old days” is always fascinating. Heck, my own kids think it’s unbelievable that we had to wait for the one time a year that they broadcast Wizard of Oz and Charlie Brown’s Christmas - couldn’t just put in a DVD whenever we wanted. I dated a guy whose mom had made frequent beach vacations to Cuba back when you could…something like that would be so interesting to read about, even if it was no big deal to her.</p>
<p>I had to re-read your post. I am still curious as to what line of work he was in and where they live, but given this:
if that is his dream, and your mother is healthy enough to travel, why wouldn’t they see the world? I mean, if that really was his “dream” and he is already over 70, how or when did he imagine realizing that dream?</p>
<p>I have found my new hobby after D. has left for college. I am working full time, but needed something to fill the hours that I used to spend with my D. after work. So, I just took one class and really liked it, went to class for a bit and then was accepted to a proffessional guild and never stopped having fun.
Take some classes related on your interests, see for yourself. But I would still have a problem filling 8 hours in addition to evening hours. I would be at loss. so I do not know how to answer the original question, although I envy anybody who was forced to retire AFTER 70, wow, good for you, most of us are not be so lucky.</p>