Thank you, Dad.
I’m typing all of this as my dad is experiencing a bittersweet moment of doing his pre-work routine for the very last time, as he goes into retirement, effective tomorrow. He’s taking things very slowly and trying to let the thought of his final hours at work sink in.
He’s been at the USPS for over 30 years and for most of those years, he’s worked the graveyard shift. Because of his job, he helped support our family as the sole breadwinner for the first few years of my life and gave us the cushioning to live a comfortable life where we didn’t go hungry and that I’d never be short of diapers, milk, and toys. Because of his job, my mom was able to spend quality time during the first few years of my life before she went back into the workforce herself. Because of his job, we had healthcare and I’d probably dodged many potential diseases and illnesses that would’ve ensued at a very young age. I’ve never had much of a relationship with my dad and we’ve never shown each other our true emotions, but seeing him get into his usual “morning” routine for the very last time (as I’m ready to head to bed myself) makes me feel bittersweet and sort of happy for him.
My dad wanted to wait until he was comfortable with his 401K fund and for me to get my a few years of work experience off the ground into my career, for him to retire comfortably. All of his odd sleeping schedules and routines are coming to an end (presumably). I never knew how much him having this job did for us, but lately, I’ve been feeling a bit more appreciation for him and how much he has supported the family throughout all these years. It’ll probably be another decade until my mother retires herself, and I can’t wait for that, but I guess you can say it’s our turn to be the breadwinners. It’s hard to believe that his career is coming to an end—I’ve spent my entire life watching him adjust to different work shifts and then watched him permanently transition into the graveyard shift. I will never forget when I started to watch him get up for work and do his routine; I had just started high school and began staying up past midnight, watching Sex and the City reruns (nothing better to watch on a school night as a 14-year-old, amIright?). I was a bit startled that he woke up in the middle of the night, but settled in overtime.
All of this took about 30 minutes before he headed out the door. And then he was gone. Since then, I’d always wondered what it was like to wake up in the middle of the night, work through the entire morning, and come back to have an odd napping schedule, and then sleep super early and repeat the same routine again. I didn’t want that for myself—I don’t want that, ever. So, watching him do his rough morning routine for the last 12+ years has probably given me some enlightenment and insight that there aren’t always going to be 9-5 jobs that’ll do it. There are plenty of jobs out there with odd schedules that’ll humble you and make you work hard, and that’s okay.
