Berks Barrister Fall 2018 - 22

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Living the Post-Law Life
Continued from page 21
wing and introduced us to their friends in our neighborhood which
was a godsend. It was nice to have people stop and talk to us and
to go out to dinner with.
We moved in the fall and loved being outside biking, walking,
gardening and kayaking. However, when the cold weather set
in, we rapidly realized that we had to find something to do to
get outside of the house. And to make matters worse, we found
that most of our friends go away for at least part of the time. We
explored volunteer jobs and signed up to teach English as a second
language two days a week. While it was interesting, it took up too
much time between the teaching and the preparation involved and
tied us down from going away if we wanted to. As a result, I moved
on. I found a group of guys to bike with who were willing to brave
the cold. This has turned into being an almost daily event year
round. It is very important to be able to get out and have some
form of social interaction every day.
What I found was that having worked all my life and being
active in our children's lives, I really had not developed any hobbies
like one of my friends here who spends his entire afternoons in his
garage woodworking. However, on a positive note, with the help
of YouTube, I am well on my way to becoming Mr. Fix It. Also, as
our bikes seem to always need some kind of maintenance, I found
a bike repair class at a local college which has been very useful!
To say that retirement is an adjustment is an understatement.
It is wonderful to be free to travel, get up late and enjoy my coffee
at a leisurely pace. However, there are many hours in the day to fill
and while a lot of times we are busy visiting friends and relatives
and having company, there are also times when it would be nice to
have more to do. It is a delicate balancing act and one that we have
not yet perfected!

Alan G. Leisawitz
A year before my contemplated
retirement date I began asking retired
friends, relatives and clients how they were
spending their time. I received some very
interesting, sometimes bizarre, answers
and developed a bucket list of my own
containing about a dozen ideas. Some were
long shots but I hoped that I'd be around
long enough to try them all.
One of those ideas was my plan to write a book. During my
working life, I read mystery stories and thrillers for relaxation. Not
much non-fiction. After I retired, I began working on a mystery
novel. I also started to read history, mostly American history,
including World War 2. I visited the American cemetery in
Normandy, France, a sight and experience that is indescribable and
should not be missed by anyone.
My dad had been an Army doctor during that war and arrived
at Normandy three days after the invasion to help clean up the
mess, but he never talked about it when he came home. Even after
I came home from my own Army-sponsored, all-expenses paid
one year tour of Vietnam in 1969, when it might have been natural
22 | Berks Barrister

to discuss it, we did not. I didn't want to think or talk about it
and perhaps he felt the same way about his Army experience. But
when I finally wanted to ask him, both my parents were deceased
and his story was gone as well. (By the way, for those of you who
don't know, for the etymology of the word "history," add "his" to
"story").
I wanted my kids and grandkids to have access to my
experiences after I'm gone and so a few years ago I decided to write
about my Army life. And then, "What the heck", I thought -
"I have lots of time. I'll write my memoirs." My life has been
fairly unremarkable; but it's still my life and I wanted my family
to have a record of it. For the next year or two, I prepared a
generalized history of my life, adding notes on little scraps of paper
and placing everything into an expansion folder that I stole from
my former law firm.
A year ago we moved to Connecticut to be near our
grandchildren and I decided to get serious about this project. I
took a short class in memoir writing and joined a weekly memoirwriting group. I have written about a dozen short essays in the
past six months and have enormously enjoyed sharing stories
and memories with a very diverse group of people who all have
their own interesting stories to tell. Each one is very forthcoming
with his or her life's joys and sorrows. And they seem to enjoy my
writing as well.
As I entered my "golden years" (and, here is a good point
to add that they're not always all that golden) and given my
weakening memory, I wasn't sure I would recall enough to render
a complete history. But I found that while listening to others in
the group, events that had previously slipped into my unconscious
mind leapt forward and made their presence known.
I greatly enjoy the process of this type of writing. It's quite
different than the boring, stilted language of the law and is quite
freeing. Once you start, it's hard to stop and one thought generally
leads to another. I particularly enjoy knowing, or at least hoping,
that somewhere down the road, my issue (as we lawyers like to call
them) will enjoy them as well.

Elizabeth and Harry
McMunigal
We have been very active in retirement,
since moving to Downingtown. Liz retired
last year, and almost immediately became
involved with the Chester County Food
Bank. Starting out first as a backup driver
for Meals on Wheels, Liz is now working
two to three days per week preparing the
meals, doing the prep work for what is being
cooked or baked or plating the meals ("I am
picking up many good cooking tips to bring
home"). After retiring this year, Harry
spends most of his three-hour shifts working
in the warehouse, organizing donated food
or preparing food for distribution.

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Berks Barrister Fall 2018

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