During the summer of 2008, I fracture my shoulder and was unable to drive for a month. I remember lying in bed staring at the ceiling fan wondering if I'll ever be able to leave the small condo we bought right at the peak of the real estate bust. (Of course this was soon to be come the worse purchase I have ever made. And would be the "kiss of death" financially.) For a month I couldn't drive and this meant no shopping, no going out to eat, no movies, no what ever people spend money on, they should probably save. Did I save . . . no! The money went to a house I didn"t want ( the one in the middle of nowhere) and the son who at this time(and still is) a professional student.During this time I did reread Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth, and worry about the future of my job.

The writing was on the wall, when it came to my job. Not that I would be without a job. As everyone knows, teachers have their jobs forever. So not true, especially for younger teachers. At least by retiring I saved one teacher's job and she actually thanked me.A year after I retired, while hurrying to a retirement party for a long time-time colleague and friend, I saw the women whose job I saved. Caring an infant in her arms and surrounded by three children all under the age of eight, she flagged me down, "Hey kids this is Mr. Campos, she saved mama job."The infant in her arms reached out for me and I reached out to him,"Thomas", I said with tears in my eyes. I remembered he had the same name as my younger brother, who had just passed away that fall.

Yes that's one thing you do when you retire. .. you watch people die.