Outskirts Press, INC.

A professional woman’s journey to a financially and emotionally healthy retirement

Somewhere between a memoir and a how-to, Hiding in My Pajamas is a uniquely refreshing funny and candid look at the emotional costs of retirement. Closing that work-life career door behind you as you start Chapter 2 of your life, while working out the emotional aspects, has become the best kept secret with professional women today. Retiring from a successful career as partner in a commercial architecture firm, Becky shares her own personal journey as she started a new life, 1,600 miles from her home, while struggling with the emotional stereotypes that deal with retirement and aging. She exposes the fears and anxieties, along with the marital turbulence, and financial challenges she faced along the way. Utilizing wit and wisdom, she bares her soul and her marriage to encourage women to try and not hang on to the past. For women from 40 to 65, Becky shares her “Plan” for a secure financial and emotional retirement. She outlines strategies to get your plan in place, sharing not only her story, but heartfelt stories of women who have tried to stop the runaway freight train of emotions as they close the door on their careers. Exploring why ”this wasn’t what I planned”, she offers the courage to identify a brand new you as you joyously move on to a different life with new purpose and meaning. Finally someone has published a brutally candid look at a 25 year plan to retirement from a woman’s perspective that resonates with honesty.

Deciding to write about my roller coaster experience when I retired made me reflect on the old adage, "We are all different." What happened to me along the way may not be how you handle your plan, see your life, or how the transition to full retirement will impact you. Since none of us reacts exactly alike, coping or embracing the transition will be a very personal journey. One of the things I was most apprehensive about writing my story, was how stupid I would look or sound. A successful, capable woman with a wonderful career, dissolved into a puddle of anxiety and regrets dancing around the house in my pajamas. Really, how crazy is that. But when I understood that this emotional reaction is one of the best kept secrets of the retired set, I almost felt compelled to let other women know my truth, and hope it would help them cope in their own way. As dramatic as it sounds, for me, being truthful about how I felt was a healthy sign of progress that I could and would get though this. As I have told others about the book and why I wrote it their reactions differ. But women over all have been relieved that there is someone else out there who "gets it." Just as you I am not the same person I was last year. I feel as if I am growing and becoming the person I want to be. In our work life we have to endure constant change. So as we retire one would think that change would be a no brainier but is usually not the case. Now, if I am not happy with yesterday, I try to focus on tomorrow, and how I have the ability to make the change that will make me happy.