(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Patricia Duplechin, resident activity director at Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Ville Platte. This column runs every Sunday in The Gazette.)
When is the right time to retire? It is a question that depends on your personal needs and circumstances, not to mention your personality and plans for what you’d do instead. We have all had our days when we are prepared to hand our boss a resignation letter and lead the good life of a retiree. While leaving the workforce early might sound like paradise, it can be a big mistake if you’re not financially ready to live with a paycheck. While you do become eligible for social security at the age of 62, you don’t actually qualify for your full monthly benefit amount until a few years later.
Planning for retirement is a personal journey of deciding where you will spend your time, fulfilling your days, or buying an RV to become a road warrior. Retirement to some mean more freedom, volunteering, and time for deepening personal relationships. Flexibility means having time to relax and not having to squeeze everything into a Saturday and Sunday.
We send get well wishes to our loved ones in the hospital. Our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Nora Thomas and Terry Fuselier. Happy birthday this week to Barbara Fontenot.
Our activities this week include Rosary, snack wagon, exercise, in-room visits, bookmobile, manicures, pokeno, beauty shop, jingo, arts and crafts, bingo, ice cream, and outdoor visits.
June 19, 2026
