I’ve learned that the hardest people to convince that they’re ready to retire are our two little girls at bedtime. That’s probably not big news. But when the gentleman whom I sold my first ever truckload of lumber to calls it a day without fanfare or public notice, it’s news around here.
Frank Armstrong at Doyle Lumber Company in Andover, Massachusetts, was a phone favorite for twenty years. He taught me to keep in mind this business is as much about making a life as making a living. In wishing Frank best wishes in his unannounced retirement last week, we trust he’ll quickly adapt to new-found challenge of having to drink coffee on his own time. Though one retired lumberman recently told me that side effects of caffeine in retirement can become more pronounced, even replacing lumber as the interrupter of slumber.