Taking Stock of Years Gone By
Last Word
by Nancy Zintak
May 2, 2008
The last week before going back to work full time, I ticked off all the things on my list that I
hadn't gotten around to in the past seven years. Hmm – quite a list! Apparently I had either been
in a coma, in a drunken stupor or out of the country for the past seven years, because nothing had
been accomplished! I tried to think back to my plans at the time: That first year of "retirement,"
I was going to tackle some of my monumental piles of files and paperwork. So I devoured Sue
Bender's book, Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home. This is the perfect book for people who
want "The Combo" – lovely bits of spirituality, humor, common sense, and simple, soul-filled
advice. Bender suggested a contract with oneself to "spend one hour a day SORTING. It didn't matter
which room, drawer, cabinet, closet or file ... one hour." The only rule was that she would not
spend any good energy noticing how many hours, months, years it might take to get all the other
projects finished.
Here's my small attempt at following this sage advice: After 24 years of marriage, I
just had not found the time to change my Social Security card to my married name. (PLEASE DO NOT
CONTACT HOMELAND SECURITY – I'M NOW WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO REMEDY THIS SITUATION.) Do you have
any idea what is involved in changing information on your Social Security card? What was "The
Artist Formerly Known as Prince" thinking, and why would he put himself through this three times?
First, I had to secure a copy of my marriage license, which requires a copy of your birth
certificate, which unfortunately was stored in my bank safe deposit box. So I started to look for
the key (I know, I know... this is beginning to sound like If You Give a Moose a Muffin ... but it
gets worse). I then spent several months looking for the key to the safe deposit box – a search
that led to several dark discoveries: a box of unsent Christmas thank-you notes from '97 ... I
winced. Then a baby present for a child who is now a freshman in high school ... egad! Worse still,
there was a box of never-returned designer maternity clothes earmarked for friend who has long
since had the baby, left her husband and come out of the closet. But I digress.
After months of searching, I came to grips with the fact that I had lost the key to the safe
deposit box and that this attempt to gain access would cost me hundreds of dollars. I put the
project on the "back burner." This is a microcosm of the past seven years.
Every day, every week, another If You Give a Moose a Muffin moment – every project I took on
begat another 13 projects. To some (okay, me) it felt as if I hadn't finished anything I'd started.
Sure, there were some fairly obvious things one could point to: In seven years off from full-time
work, I did have yet another baby; freelanced several PR projects; did lots of volunteer work for
schools, church, neighborhood, etc., blah, blah, blah – I even wrote a book and started a marketing
and media company with a dear colleague.
But in reality, it mostly feels like I've just been at one very long bake sale. And to think
of all the things I never got to! I did not learn to speak Italian, read
Overcoming Dyslexia, put together my last child's baby book, reupholster the fireplace bench,
and for the 24th consecutive year, I failed to do a Christmas card. I didn't inventory and video
everything in my house, whiten my teeth, create a cohesive fire escape plan, go to Prague or switch
from my Filofax to a BlackBerry. I also didn't take a cooking class, knit, bead, garden, paint,
play piano by ear or golf. Or play tennis. Oh, and spin. I haven't figured out how to track my
spending, service my car or calculate my calorie intake. (I lasted one week on Weight Watchers ...
too much math!) Alas, three days before I returned to work full time, I threw up my hands while
reviewing the mile-high, seven-year-old piles that populate every corner of my well-worn house and
said, "PSHAW!" I'M LATE FOR WORK!ste it into the CMS.it into the CMS.
