Slowly the story came out. He didn't want to tell us over the phone, but wanted to show the changes to us. He had retired from the world of finance permanently. He had sold the condo and the Porsche and almost everything else and was now living a life of total relaxation. Well, it wasn't totally relaxed. He told us he did have a job, and would show us what it was. He took us down the dusty back road to a small bait shop combined with a restaurant. An elderly couple, Hank and Annie, met us and greeted my Dad with a slap on the back. Hank then proclaimed that Dad was his DISHWASHER! My Dad, the distinguished corporate executive who handled million dollar deals, was working as a dishwasher in a backwoods diner!
By now we were so stunned that we couldn't speak, while my Dad just grinned. Hank then gave us the story: six months before, Dad had stopped at the restaurant for coffee on the way to a business conference. They had started talking, and Dad had told them he really was tired of business but didn't know what else to do. They told him about the house for sale and about the quiet life. One thing led to another and then another! Dad then told us he had always wanted to relax but didn't know how. Hank and Annie had shown him. Both of them were friendly and very funny, with a very wild sense of humor.
Hank told me, "When I saw your dad come in here, he had on his fancy blue pinstriped suit and his nice necktie and the white shirt and those real fancy, shiny shoes and I thought: he's just one of those high and mighty executives. I never liked hotshots in suits and ties." (I soon learned that "high and mighty" was a favorite term of both Hank and Annie).
Hank went on, "Never trusted the suit and tie types. I always thought they wanted something for nothing. Now I got my revenge! He walks in here and starts talking and complaining about his stress and his life making money in an office. So we turned him into one of us – blue collar! We talked him into starting a whole new life. But you know, he didn't need much convincing. We told him to quit his job and buy the little house and sell all of those stupid suits and neckties and stop shaving and trade in that car he was driving when he got here!”
Dad nodded and smiled. “Every suit is gone! And the Porsche, too!” Hank then pointed at dad’s feet: “But the FIRST thing I said to him was - we wouldn't talk to him as long as had those high and mighty banker shoes on!" Dad laughed hard. "They drove a hard bargain. They had me taking off my polished brogues and even my dress socks the first day I was here! And I still had my pinstriped suit and tie on! I went for a walk by the lake that first day. They made me relax and come down off my high horse. I never thought I walk around without shoes on my feet, or throw my briefcase and razor away, or spend days fishing, but I'm a happy man"
At that point, two men walked in wearing overalls and greeted my Dad. Together they planned a day of fishing while Hank and Annie told me the rest of the story. Annie chuckled affectionately and went on: "He came strutting in here as a high and mighty city slicker banker in a fancy suit and the necktie tied just right and cufflinks and the slick haircut and that executive car parked out front and now I've got him in my kitchen washing dishes in his bare feet!" It was a large adjustment for me, as the dad of my childhood had obviously chosen a path I would never have expected, but I realized that the remarkable changes in my Dad's life had made him very happy.
At first, it was incredible to me that this Ivy League educated investment banker who had lived the life of white collar success and prestige all his life would trade it all in for a tiny house and a pickup. He obviously didn't need to wash dishes; he had plenty of money. But he loved the routine and the company and the activity, and his new friends and their affection and humor. At that point, Annie slapped my dad on the back again and said: "Time to get to work, Slim!" Slim? My father's name was Reginald William Wellington, obviously too “high and mighty” for a dishwasher, so he had been renamed, based on his middle name!:):)
He and Annie were proud of their role in bringing my Dad into this new life, and I genuinely thanked them. My Dad lived another fifteen years, and he later said to me that the complete change in his way of living probably added a decade to his life. He proved to me that it is impossible to predict what even the people closest to us will do. My Dad, my rock, had many peaceful years he did not expect, but that he definitely earned.
