FEATURE
RETIREMENT
AUTHOR Timir Banerjee , MD
One morning I woke up and thought I was feeling as though I didn ’ t want to go to work I drove my car towards my office wondering if my life needed a boost or was I at a fork ? So I called my daughter to ask if I had spent enough good times with her as she was growing up I asked my wife if I had told her that I had loved her and if I had shown it enough
The mirror said to me to look in the eye and be honest There is a different life that must be created with as much passion at the end of the working forest You have a choice to work at your profession till you die Or choose another vocation where you may live , be satisfied and always be high
My wife and I are both very hard working souls So we chose farming as our final goal We love the land , we love to dig and we love to see things grow She said how about we start out slow So we sold our house and bought a farm She drove to Tennessee to rescue a puppy that one day would be a big dog and protect us from harm .
We attended classes at university Kentucky To learn about bees making honey , hay , hogs and animal husbandry She became a master gardener and i her assistant , Sancho Panza God gave me a joyous heart and abundant energy to love and play With the one I love , everyday .
Understanding WABI SABI and learning to see the future in today Helped me to start living everyday I tilled the soil and planted the seeds but accepted the uncertainty of a future day
24 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
I became healthier in my spirit as I flew a kite every now and then Moses chased the flying silk and its tail often When I was tired I sat on a bale of hay and drank a cold Bud Moses sat in front of me wanting to be hugged He scratched me with his paw Whenever I stopped petting Reminding me that life is about engaging in loving and living .
I made an apiary garden so the bees didn ’ t have to fly far They pollinated my apple and peach trees and made honey by adding the dandelion flavor I had overcome the shackles of my belief that fixing brain aneurysms was the only great thrill ever Time is fleeting in the bivouac of life said Longfellow So I act not expecting a promise for the day that will follow But only to live today and now with excitement and a joyful heart Shoveling manure , spreading hay , fixing fences , cutting grass and gathering eggs are its different parts .
I often dream of the humanity of Hector Though I secretly admire Achilles ’ s irreverent power But it is in understanding the concept of Ikebana that has made me free So I can live again and ride the mule while reciting Psalm 23 .
Love in retirement is an amalgamation of fortitude , disagreements and adoration It is this mortar that can build the Taj Mahal that is free of cracks and is seamless on palpation It is this strength that can inspire Athena to hold the horses of dawn back While Argos guards the doors To allow time for living and to delay the brother of Zeus Here love does death defy Cause it is written on the entrance door He who believeth in ME shall never die !
Dr . Banerjee is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of Louisville .