Saturday, June 30, 2012, was my last day as a full-time employee. On Sunday, July 1, I entered the ranks of the retired.
Accordingly, I am having a ceremonial look at my Social Security statement. My first contribution to Social Security was $109, in 1955. I worked for Abilene Blueprint Co. that summer, delivering blueprints around town on my bicycle. I was 12 years old. Thus I understood little about "Social Security." I did get a card, with my very own Social Security Number on it, and that made me feel important.
That was 57 years ago. I also worked for a florist, a lumberyard, two or three construction companies, an oilpatch drilling crew, Nabisco, the Post Office, the Abilene Water and Sewer Dept., Stanford University (library, lifeguard, bowling alley), the U.S. Army, The Abilene Reporter-News, The San Diego Union, and Grossmont College. It was a good working life. I still carry interesting stories from each of those jobs.
It was from Grossmont College (journalism professor) that I retired July 1, my last full-time job. I am 69, and I still understand little about Social Security, except how important it becomes, overnight, to me, along with Medicare, and how important that made me feel, waking up Sunday morning. Thank you, there, in Washington, D.C. I am going to frame that card you sent me in 1955, which today feels like a diploma.
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