Ruth Elizabeth Reeve was born on November 5, 1961, in Bedford, United Kingdom, as an illegitimate child to a Jewish mother and an Irish father, where intolerance, family shame, and secrecy prevailed. Ruth's mother was only seventeen when she fell pregnant and was forced to give up her child. Ruth's adoptive and childless parents sought help within the Jewish community to adopt. Ruth believes that this was essentially a backdoor arrangement between her adoptive father and the Rabbi who served the community.
Ruth always knew that she was adopted. She said, “I feel that many adopted children have a bit of a hole in them and suffer to some extent as if people are about to leave. It leaves you feeling incomplete.”
Ruth left school at 16 and worked various roles until her 40s when she completed her degree in English Literature in London. Ruth married in 1987 and had two sons, Louis and Jethro. She later divorced and returned to Swindon to concentrate on work and raising her boys. In 2003, Ruth met Martin Reeve. They fell in love, married, and together raised their four children. They have seven grandchildren.
For the past twenty-five years, Ruth has worked for a utilities company in Swindon. She took voluntary redundancy and officially retired on December 31, 2023, at age 62.
In September 2023, Ruth and Martin bought a plot of land within walking distance from their home. Ruth intends to spend her retirement cultivating the land together with Martin, growing plants and flowers, and sharing her newfound passion with family and friends in a space where wholeness flourishes and comes together in abundance.
Why did you retire or why are you still working?
Why did you retire?
Why are you still working?
Why retire? Why indeed? After all, my job was undemanding, well paid, and not entirely unenjoyable. It was also often boring, uninspiring and dull.
Then, at 62, I was offered redundancy and with it came the opportunity to retire. It wasn't planned or expected, it is life changing.
I don't believe in fate, but I do believe in serendipity. A couple of months earlier, I had bought a neglected plot of land I had known as a child. I wasn't a gardener, the purchase was spontaneous and impulsive, it was also full of optimism and perhaps just a little bit mad. I'm learning something new every day. My life, and my home, are full of pots, planting and propagating. My boots are muddy, as are my fingernails. It is a new, exciting adventure.
The garden is a place of peace, full of birdsong and evening bats. Friends, and family sometimes pop in to sit and chat. It is a joy, and even though I don't have a clue what I'm doing, it's somehow simple. Mistakes will be made, but there will also be triumphs and successes. The days get longer, there are already flowers popping up amongst the weeds.
Life expectancy 2023
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