After 38 years as a teacher and school administrator, including 24 years as the superintendent in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Donald Draayer, the author of this article, has discovered that retirement is not one transition, but many, affecting all aspects of life. He is finding that retirement is like virgin soil. The ground must be cleared, plowed and fertilized. New possibilities must be turned over in the mind and heart. Learning does not end in retirement; it shifts to brand new terrain. Donald's journey appears to be following the nine distinct stages of retirement culled from stories of 300-plus educators who have shared their retirement stories with him in the process of writing a book on this subject. However, each story is unique. In this article, Donald Draayer shares his story.