Though he is well known throughout the industry as the publisher of an illustrious trend leading magazine, and leader of a prestigious floral design educational team, Richard Salvaggio AIFD did not start as a knowledgeable florist. In fact, his field of expertise was completely different. Today, he recounts his early forays into the world of flowers. Most importantly, he shares his insights and challenges of navigating a world that is much less stressful but can be surprisingly daunting.
Rich Salvaggio AIFD
RETIREMENT – What did it mean to me!
I was asked to give my thoughts on retirement and what comes with it.
My working days were always long, sometimes often going on to the evening. I loved it all.
My working days started as a high school teacher, then, I worked in a shelter for adults that were trying to find jobs. It was a great time of learning to do such work. The next change was when I decided I would open a Plant and Flower Shop. So much to learn every day because I didn’t really know very much about the world of flowers. I met the local librarian and promised to keep a floral arrangement on her desk if she would get me any books about flowers that she could find. That was the start of a relationship that lasted over 9 years. Through her kindness, my learning process continued for all those years, and I loved every minute of it. When she passed away, I was honored to create beautiful florals for her funeral.
After 20 years in the floral business, I was fortunate to sell my shop and join the staff of Teleflora. After almost 20 years with Teleflora, the day of retirement was there. How did it come so fast?
Everything changed so quickly as I faced the first day of my retirement. It was very strange. I showered, dressed, and had breakfast like every other day, but this was different. I wasn’t going to work. What would I do? So many things were in my mind. I decided to mow the lawn and water the plants in the yard. Two hours passed and those tasks were finished. I went back in the house and vacuumed the house, emptied the dishwasher and only another hour had passed. I even rearranged my clothes closet. At this point I realized that I needed to have a plan of things that I wanted to do. I sat down and created a list of “Things to do”. What was important to me now that I had free time?
The list consisted of things I wanted to do in my retirement. Some items on the list were travel, reading, cooking, walking, improving my knowledge of Spanish, organizing my desk, eating better, keeping in touch with friends, losing a few pounds, and a few more realistic items.
At this time, we had sold our house in LA and moved to our home in Palm Springs, so packing and unpacking were in the daily agenda until we were completely unpacked. Well, once again I was very busy for quite a long time.
Once the house was unpacked, I began to try to complete some of the items in the list. It was very helpful to me to do this because it gave me direction, including things to do that would help me improve myself, and make my time begin to be more useful, and have much more importance to me. And, to this day I continue to feel I am busy with so much to do every day. Retirement has become a new adventure with learning something every day.
