When people think about stages of life that can strain relationships, they often reflect on the first sleepless years of child rearing or the phase of parenting that involves rebellious teens. Retirement, typically anticipated as a time of relaxation, might not come to mind, but this transition away from work can also be stressful, coinciding with reinventions and re-evaluations that can cause couples to suddenly experience new tensions. It can also be a time of renewed connection and relationship growth. Often, it’s both at once.
I’m a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine who frequently writes about health, family and culture. Last year, I wrote a cover story about menopause and a feature about the effectiveness of talk therapy, among others. For an article I’m now researching for the magazine, I’d like to talk to long-term couples in which one or both partners have retired in the past several years, and who feel that the transition has changed their relationships in some way, for better or for worse. I hope to shed light on the joys and challenges of retirement for couples, exploring how they adjust to this phase, and to each other.
I’ll read every submission, and I’ll contact you if I’m interested in learning more about your story and possibly including some of it in the article. We will not publish any part of your submission until we’ve reached out to you and heard back. We won’t share your contact information outside the newsroom or use it for any reason other than reporting this story.
