I Was a Pensioner’s Pensioner, Now I’m a Pensioners Pensioner
- October 14, 2021
I wasn’t sure what to make of my first-time pensioner when she called me to her house for dinner last month.
She was a 70-year-old man with a heart condition.
I told her my first retirement in 50 years was over, and she said she wanted to do what I did.
I was just surprised.
“It’s just a big relief to see you so happy,” she said.
I had no idea she had a heart disease.
But I thought it was okay to ask her what she was doing.
“I have to get out of my house for the weekend,” she replied.
The next day I received a call from her health care provider.
“They were very upset because I didn’t get a phone call in the morning.”
I couldn’t believe it.
I thought she was going to lose her life.
She had just died from pneumonia.
But then I thought about it: What happens when I don’t get my phone call?
I got the phone call, and it was her husband.
He said, “It looks like you’re a pensioner now.”
I was relieved, but it was a little bit scary.
I felt a little guilty.
What if they were going to try and take away my pension?
She didn’t want to hear about it.
So I didn.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?” she asked.
I did, and the nurse told me to come home and get checked out.
The doctor said, I’ve never seen anything like this.
The heart attack and pneumonia had just been ignored by her health insurance company, and I had to pay my own way.
But she was grateful for the visit from a nurse and her doctor, and that’s when I finally understood what a pension is.
I never thought about getting my pension, until I went to see my pensioner for the first time.
“This is the most wonderful time I’ve ever had in my life,” she told me.
She got me an envelope and a piece of paper, and told me that her insurance company would be picking up the check.
“So you have a pension now?”
I asked her.
She nodded.
Then I told them I was in a retirement fund, but I didn, because I was worried about losing my life savings.
“If you don’t want it, you can get it,” she explained.
She then told me about my health care providers, and how she would make sure I got everything I needed.
I have been living in an assisted living facility in Los Angeles for nearly a year.
Now, she’s my life.
“People ask me all the time, ‘How do you pay for it?'” she said to me.
“How do I pay for my insurance?”
I tell her that I have no idea.
I don, but that’s because I’m trying to figure it out myself.
“Why don’t you pay me the money, and you can go to a place like my home and just keep going?”
I told my wife that I thought I could.
I’m glad she’s still here, because my retirement savings are now in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing.
I started to understand what it means to have a job that’s not in my name.
I finally get to say goodbye to my wife and children.
I miss her, but she still has a chance to live, and her retirement funds are safe.
I’ll be back in her house again.
I’ve got the best of both worlds now, and everything is in my control.
I am now in control of my life, my retirement, and my health insurance.
I can pay for everything.
And I’m grateful to the people who cared enough to give me this chance.