We need to celebrate more things.

Because life is hard.

I’m still working through the New York Times Magazine retirement issue, because it saves me from coming up with ideas for this newsletter. I’m pretty busy with paid work right now, so that’s wonderful. Today, I’m considering their article about retirement parties (New York Times gift link). Namely, they aren’t really a thing right now, and maybe they should be.

When my father retired, his employer had a big party at a fancy downtown club. In the 20 years since then, I have seen a lot of friends and relatives retire, and I have not heard of any of them having a retirement party. Maybe they are just being nice because I wasn’t invited. But really, I think it’s because retirement a little vague. I know a lot of people who didn’t exactly retire, but were let go in some kind of cost-cutting move and were given a large enough severance that they didn’t sue anyone. No one was feeling festive.

And I know a lot of people who left their job for self-employment, then wound down their business over time. It happened so gradually that there wasn’t a landmark date.

But it’s not just retirement. We don’t have many rites of passage for teenagers. Weddings in our culture are big events, but after that? Not much. So I vote for more celebrations.

My husband and I always keep a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge, because you never know when there will be something that you need to celebrate. And if the champagne is there, you’ll find reasons to celebrate.

So maybe retirement parties aren’t really a thing. But there are landmarks and big events in life. If you’re reading this, go find one. Something. And plan a celebration.

What will you celebrate?