Stepping Into Retirement Celebration

My co-worker, Judy, retired after 36 years, and we wanted to celebrate her retirement in grand style.

Just a plain retirement cake and punch would not do. We were looking for the WOW! factor to represent her years of service.

We decorated our agency’s conference room with fancy and fabulous decorations of heels, pearls and jewels with the theme of  “Stepping into Retirement and Kissing OHFA Goodbye.”

Judy’s favorite color is red so we provided red cut-out lips on popsicle sticks for all employees – to kiss her goodbye!

To celebrate Judy’s 36 years of service, 36 of her co-workers presented Judy with a single rose and shared out loud a single word that best described her. Each word was also written on a red lip-shaped card and handed to her.

Words like:

• Sassy
• Faithful
• Generosity
• Friendship
• Accepting
• Outspoken
• Beautiful
• Caring
• Precious
• Fabulicious
• Dependable
• Exuberant
• Vivacious
• Infectious
• Hugs
• Cheerful
• Loving
• Happy
• Vibrant
• Adventurous
• Smiles
• Radiant
• Compassionate
• Bubbly
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

During the retirement office party, we passed out 36 Trivia Questions about Judy. The co-worker with the most correct answers won a small prize.

The questions were not just work related but personal too. Here is a sample:

• How many kids does Judy have?
• How many grandchildren does Judy have?
• What is Judy’s favorite food?
• Name one of Judy’s travel buddies?
• Name Judy’s first supervisor?
• What is Judy’s job title?
• Name one of her favorite restaurants?
• What month was Judy born?
• What college does her grandson attend?
• What is the first thing Judy does when she she sees you?

After all of the fun and games, we served fancy cake and cookies in the shape of red lips in honor of our beautiful friend and co-worker, Judy. Gosh, we are going to miss her!

Retirement is a gift of a job well done, a life time of friendships, and looking forward to the adventures on the horizon!