January 18, 2026
Meriam Webster’s Dictionary defines liminal in the following way. It is an adjective that means of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition: in between or transitional. It has three syllables and is broken into these sections for pronunciation “lim-i-nal.” Liminal perfectly describes the place I am in life.
Last week I sat down with my principal and gave her my letter of intent to retire at the end of the school year. She accepted it graciously, said a few kind words and we both shed a tear or two. It feels like that point in senior year when you have been accepted into college or landed that dream job and yet there are still assignments to complete and a degree to be earned before commencement. In June, I will be heading off to an uncertain future. I have been planning and saving for decades. Working for the school system for more than 30 years means I have a pension to draw and access to health benefits until I qualify for Medicare. I even have the chance to work part-time as a substitute librarian a few days a month, giving me both a supplemental income and a chance to continue connecting with students and staff. I get that I am both extremely fortunate and that I worked hard to get to this point.
Now, I have entered the liminal space. I am in the in between time when I am not retired, yet everyone knows I am a short timer. So much of my identity of the past decades has been grounded in my work. I have felt proud to be a teacher and a librarian. Sometimes, telling non-educators about my job has led to words of thanks, comments about not knowing how teachers can handle the many stresses of working with teenagers, and rude remarks about how nice it must be to only work part of the year.
I already have plans for my retirement. For about a year I have been working with adults with low literacy. Currently, I have 3 students who are working with me to improve their reading skills as they also strengthen their sobriety from drugs and alcohol. We have worked to build their word attack skills, to break words down into syllables, to recognize root words, prefixes, suffixes and to improve their vocabulary so they can better understand the AA big book. One fellow has recently completed the treatment phase of the program, the other two are likely to be done in February or March. I can continue to work with them as they move into jobs and return to society. I also hope to work with other addicts in treatment. Being retired will give me the flexibility to meet students at a local library during the day or after work based on their schedules. It will also mean I can teach the 8 am to 10 am class on Tuesdays the Healing Place has built into their schedule.
In addition, there is a book I hope to complete and other writing projects on the back burner. Nick and I intend to do some travel in Europe, to take a photo safari in Africa and to see more of the United States. Already on the books is a trip to the Netherlands and Germany this Spring and another to Arizona in August. A garden of native Virginia plants is in the planning stages for our front yard as are a few other home improvement projects.
In the meantime, I will try to enjoy this liminal time. Transition can be uncomfortable and unsettling. I am attempting to sit with disquieting feelings with positive anticipation of the future. The threshold between full-time work and retirement is an opportunity to reflect and make choices to move forward in a new direction. There are many doors yet to open and paths to pursue. I am excited to see what unfolds!
Mindful Musings 