By Tamar Asedo Sherman
It’s been a rough month. After more than two decades of working as an art director for a major daily newspaper, my husband Jack was nudged into early retirement some four years ahead of plans in keeping with changing times. People are not reading newspapers any more, or at least there are no new readers. The Internet has taken over, and so the news business must go where the readers are. Newspapers across the country are shrinking, and efforts are being shifted into dressing up Web sites rather than newspaper pages.
Jack’s initial reaction at being told that the art department was going to be eliminated was shock. Then, hearing that a couple of positions might be salvaged and the workers taught new skills, he moved into the denial stage, following Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s grief cycle, as described in her classic 1969 book On Death and Dying. Although he does not have a disability, the progression of emotions Jack faced is something with which we can all identify.
Perhaps he would be the one to be retained and retrained. After all the good work he had done, they couldn’t possibly do without his services. From denial, he moved into anger: How could they do that?
How could they put 10 to 15 talented people out of work from one department? It wasn’t fair! There were to be buyouts throughout the operation, but the art department was the only one being targeted with elimination.
Bargaining with himself, Jack questioned whether he would accept one of the coveted positions if it were offered to him. No, he would not like it. It would be so different from the job he loved and he would miss his closest colleagues and friends. But, maybe he would take it anyway. After all, he liked many of the staff members who remain in other departments, and the pay is good.
Alas, the choice was not his to make. He was not offered a position. Depression set in. He faced a loss of identity. If he was not an art director and illustrator any longer, then who was he? (Loss of identity? Many of us have been there, done that.) And what would he do from now on? He was not yet ready to lounge in front of the TV all day, even though he had jokingly been saying that he wouldn’t mind doing that for years now.
This is where the testing stage came in, where he began seeking alternate plans. It’s what all of us have to do when we realize we can no longer do what we’ve been doing, whether as a result of accident, disease or economic reality. His computer graphic skills needed updating if he were to go out into the marketplace looking for a new job, and at 61 and a half years of age, he did not relish the idea of competing with people half his age or even less. His résumé, too, was decades old and would need updating.
Using my best career counseling skills, I asked what he likes to do in his spare time, the same question I ask anyone who comes in for vocational assessment. Carpentry is what came to mind. He loves to build bookcases, shelves and tables, creating projects around the house, and had thought previously of transforming our finished basement into a workshop at some point.
It didn’t take long for Jack to make a connection. Our son-in-law Tim builds sets for two regional theaters and is always in need of skilled helpers. Maybe Jack could work for him. Our daughter Tovah mentioned to her husband that her dad was going to retire, when Tim immediately said, “Good, then he can work with me!”
Once Jack began to look forward to what else he could do, he began to get excited. He could still be useful and productive. There was life after a 35-year career in journalism. He was reaching the final stage of acceptance. When he began mentioning the possibility of building sets to friends and acquaintances, they all thought it was a wonderful idea and very appropriate.
More possibilities cropped up when Jack sent out e-mail messages announcing his departure from the newspaper. One friend with a dot com startup could use his services to help write and design her Web site. Another suggested he might teach a section of a news literacy course being offered through a local university’s journalism school. A third suggested other freelance illustration outlets, and a couple of temporary or part-time job listings on craigslist.com also are intriguing.
Now that he is no longer concerned with salary, benefits or prestige, Jack can get involved in work activities that give him personal satisfaction. He is still grieving loss of his lifelong career, but he moved through the stages to acceptance pretty quickly and is enjoying his Act Two.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, NY. She can be reached at action@unitedspinal.org.
