Retirement of a Sort

So I had this job as a technical writer for the Texas Department of Transportation. I didn't plan to stay with it for 19 years, but they treated me well, and the pay was good, and it was kind of interesting -- so... Before that I had been doing freelance work -- technical writing, ad copy, video scripts. It was pretty much a hand-to-mouth existence. The competition started getting fierce. My daughter was getting ready for college, and I decided I needed a regular paycheck. I told myself I'd just stay with the Department until she got through college. She got through college in four years and took off. I stayed on and on at TxDOT. One thing led to another, and pretty soon it was 2007 -- time to move on.

Under the arcane rules of state employment, I was able to retire at age 60+ with a decent pension and benefits. I consider myself a lucky man. I'm healthy, happy, in love with my wife, debt free, living where I want to live, and writing what I want to write.

I had an odd career as a technical writer. I call it odd because it was unlikely for a person of my abilities and education -- slow reader, poor speller, and only three years of college. But I've always had a knack for grammar and syntax. Even the shapes of letters and sounds of words captivate me. And I loved stories and the process of their unfolding -- still do. Somehow by my late 20s, I had decided to be a writer. I'd done lots of writing before that -- comics, movie scripts, short stories, poetry -- so maybe it was natural, or maybe it wasn't. Everyone probably has a peculiar story.