Being terminated…

Hello HD community. I need to vent a bit and hope that one or more of you can relate to my situation and provide some insights. As I posted on this site several weeks ago, I was terminated the day before my 59th birthday. After close to 40 years, I suddenly found myself without a job that often required long hours including 3 hours of commuting time. I was unhappy and unfulfilled in my role and considered quitting, but prudently held on until I was terminated and received a severance package. While I am relieved that I am no longer bound to my previous employer, I still find myself struggling with the transition. I followed the guidance of my peers and members of this site and took 6 weeks off to decompress before starting my job search on September 1st. While it is still early days, signs of ageism have already appeared in just about every conversation…being asked how long I plan to work or if I am truly ready to take a role with less responsibility and compensation than I previously had. Whether appropriate or not, these are reasonable questions which point out the uphill challenge I face in finding a new role. Here is where the need to vent comes in…friends and family continually ask me, how is retirement treating you? Often followed by you are so lucky and how they envy my position. I politely correct them by saying, I am not retired, I am just not working, and depending on my mood, I might add, getting fired is nothing to celebrate. My wife senses my frustration growing with this seemingly unending exchange as I encounter new people in different social circles. She has pointed out that my answers have become unnecessarily short and curt. Has anyone else faced this challenge?

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