Looking Back at Retirement, One Year Later

When I retired from Frito-Lay a little more than a year ago, several of my fellow retirees told me it takes about one year before retirement really sinks in.  At the time, I dismissed this insight.  Even though I'd worked at Frito-Lay for 30 years, I thought moving on would be pretty easy.  But now, I must admit I understand what they meant. 

It didn’t really strike me that I was truly retired until last week when I attended a retirement dinner for Dave Rader, Frito-Lay’s former Chief Financial Officer, and saw many of the people I used to work with on a day-to-day basis.  While it was fabulous seeing former co-workers at the dinner, as I listened to them chat about work topics that are now foreign to me, I realized I really have been gone for a while. 

At the dinner, I had the opportunity to give a short speech about the positive impact Dave made on Marketing while I was at Frito-Lay. (I even mentioned Dave’s support for Snack Chat and my interview podcast recording with him we recently featured on the blog.) 

Dave wrapped-up the evening by sharing fun stories from his 35-year career with the company and offering some touching comments about his wife and family.  It was one of the best retirement talks I've ever heard! 

Driving home afterward, my wife, Janis, asked me if I missed working. I told her I miss the people but also realize that I'm enjoying our new life very much and wouldn’t want to go back at this point.  As I said in my speech to Dave, some people view retirement as a sunset, but to me it has been a sunrise -- the beginning of a new chapter.  My days fly by and are filled spending more time with Janis, visiting our grandchildren, reading, working on photography, riding my bike, traveling, going to our lake house -- and of course -- writing the Snack Chat blog. (Maybe that means I’m not totally retired, huh?)

A day after Dave's retirement dinner, I read in The Dallas Morning News about Frito-Lay’s plan to move more of its portfolio to healthier snacks.  Of course, I was very proud of the company for taking this position and sharing the message at the PepsiCo annual meeting.  But it also struck me that I was reading the article through the eyes of an interested consumer and PepsiCo shareholder more so than as an employee.

Over the weekend, I had what I'll call my "transition dream."  Right after I retired, I occasionally dreamt I still worked at Frito-Lay.  Then, on Sunday night, I dreamt I attended a meeting at Frito-Lay and people wondered why I was there.  "He needs to let go,” someone in my dream said.

So after about a year, I think I can truly say it feels good to be retired.  Both my conscious and unconscious selves have come to terms with it, and I'll keep moving forward into my next sunrise. 

Comments

[Sharla]

It's nice you still contribute to the business by blogging. I was very pleased when the natural snack line, including Cheetos (my fav!), came out. Hydrogenated oil and MSG are two common snack ingredients which are contributing to the rise of heart disease and obesity, and I think the natural snacks taste better than products containing them. I would always choose these natural snacks when given the choice. Yay Frito-Lay!