This week on The Open Door (May 4th), we discuss retirement and redirection and making one’s heart sing! Our welcome and returning guest is Mrs. Leslie Shaw Klinger, OP. Leslie is a life-professed member of the Blessed Fra Angelico Chapter of Lay Dominicans, has retired from one career as a government civil servant where she held a variety of Administrative positions and is about to retire as the Assistant to the Faith Formation Director of a large Catholic parish in the Central Valley of California. A lover of Scotties, the SF Giants, Golden State Warriors, and a Forty-Niner Faithful since 1955, Leslie has a unique perspective on retirement and Faith. As always, please feel free to suggest others!

1. Leslie, if we may, you have now retired twice. What’s the difference this time? Will it “stick”?

2. Some argue (for example, an 83 year old pastor we know) that retirement isn’t a Biblical concept. How would you answer him?

3. Be honest: are you “busier” now than you were before you retired?

4. Some people say that they have redirected rather than retired. Are you one of them?

5. Could you tell us about some of your main activities these days?

6. What does it mean to be a lay Dominican?

7. Your work mentoring men and women struggling with sobriety has made you a very early riser. What’s involved in your service?

8. Are you still a political activist?

9. Care to put in a plug for the American Solidarity Party?

10. We’re betting that you are familiar with Charles Lamb’s classic “The Superannuated Man.” Suppose AARP wanted you to review it. What points would you make?