My Father Turned 80 – And He Still Refuses to Retire

My father turned 80 on Wednesday.

We were invited to celebrate – but only after 7pm, because both he and my mother were still at work.

Yes, 80 years old. And still working.

He doesn’t need the money. He works because he was raised that way and apparently never learned how to stop. Work is his identity. Retirement seems to be some kind of foreign concept.

My mother continues working too. Her reason is refreshingly honest: “If I sit at home waiting for your father to come home from work, I’ll go crazy.”

So here they are — two pensioners in their 80s, still clocking in every day.

I’m starting to believe that a surprisingly large part of the work actually getting done in Sweden is performed by people who are technically retired. Many of them simply refuse to slow down.

Somehow, I don’t think my parents want to look — or feel — their actual age.

Right now they’re planning a four-week trip to America next April. New York for shopping, then renting a Tesla with Full Self-Driving to drive up to Niagara Falls, continue down to Miami, and finish with a Caribbean cruise.

They’ve already bought FSD for their Model Y here in Sweden, optimistically hoping that Swedish politicians will eventually wake up and legalize it.

I have to give them credit. For their energy, their stubbornness, and their genuine curiosity about new technology — at an age where most people have long since given up.

Whether that’s admirable or slightly worrying… I haven’t quite decided yet.