Keeping Busy

My 93-year-old father, Abe, has been using the phrase ”keeping busy” since his so-called retirement 31 years ago.

To him, keeping busy really means staying alive. Many seniors, like my father, choose to stay occupied and enriched, meeting new people and having new experiences, rather than taking long naps and easing into death.

My father was a brewery manager in Brooklyn and later a beer distributor who, as a young man, wanted to be a doctor.

When he retired from the beer business in 1974 at the age of 62, he was hired as a transporter in the nuclear medicine department at a hospital in Plantation Florida, where he still works today. Not a doctor, but hey, it’s close.

When he turned 90 a few years ago, he rented a hall and threw himself a big party. He invited the friends he met while working in the hospital — doctors, nurses, technicians and cafeteria workers, as well as old friends and family.

He says he will retire when he reaches 100 — maybe.

Update: My father turned 95 this past August. His companion Kay turned 90. Once again, he threw himself a big party. He announced his retirement at the party.