I recall the immediate weeks and months after my retiring as Bishop of Killaloe and the predominant feeling of being done without. It is common to many retirees to sense that loss of relevance amid days that are no longer filled with work-related activity. It comes as a bit of a shock to the system if you have been engaged in some sort of work for 20, 30, 50 years and it suddenly ceases. A large part of that shock is the realisation that the life you left behind goes on perfectly well without you.