Good morning, good people!

We have a couple of folks on the site that are sorta, kinda, being forced into a retirement they had not exactly planned. Usefewersyllables, iirc, commented about a job being one's identity. I can relate.

I am one month into my 40th year practicing law. My driving desires were to help end the death penalty, and to be my own boss. My practice branched out into certain civil practice areas, and shaped itself according to the needs of the community, and my need to support myself. I am not that lucky child of rich parents.

My 2 best friends in the biz are a tad older than me, and the 3 of us talk about walking away.

The oldest is a guy who has health issues. His family and friends want him to just come home. He resists because he is a lawyer, that is what he is, what he does. Nothing else. I firmly believe he fights his health problems because he has clients to take care of, and if that was not the case, he would curl up and die. He got lucky, represented his brother in a truck/auto collision case and became a millionaire. The woman pal was fortunate to inherit a small fortune, but unfortunate enough to find herself in a community where all her friends are dead, and her beloved husband died. If she retires, she goes home to absolutely nothing and nobody.

My situation is different from theirs in that I always did business in a poor county for low prices, and while my retirement stash is sufficient today, but I worry constantly about inflation, and what my monthly budget might look like in a year, or two years. Right at the time I was able to sock away maximum $ into savings, here comes COVID. The local economy has not recovered and will not ever be the same.

To add to the problem is location. My home is in a rural area. A marauding gang could wipe me and mine out in minutes. For those of you who are not really bothered by illegal immigrants, my situation is very different. This area in East and Southeast Texas is inundated with cartels. If I sell or lease my office, located beside the courthouse, 2 blocks from the Sheriff's office, I can't go there if this place gets really dangerous. It could happen. And I might decide to open up my practice post-retirement.

My head splits open with these problems, but the REAL problem is what usefewersyllables was addressing.

Identity. Lawyers are 24/7 under the guns. We don't get to escape it. We sign up for it. Everything we do or say is held accountable. We signed up for it. We are proud of it. We studied, we tested, we committed to it, and my old pal is right. He is nothing and nobody unless he is a lawyer, because most of his life that is who he is.

Me, too.

Anyway, walking away from work, which is what we do in this country, when not forced, is not always the relief from being under the thumb of "the man" as it is being old and helpless at the mercy of another "man".

I fervently hope all of you are prepared for that final phase in this life.

Meanwhile, lots of stuff and things are happening all over the world, and whatever info you find that is interesting, please share with your friends here on the site.

This is an open thread, open to all kinds of info, ideas, and the gestures of friendship.

Your turn!