Some of the posts reflect a desperate attempt by the aging alum to stave off the inevitable visit from the grim reaper.

I am definitely an underachiever among my classmates, but I love hearing what the people who are accomplishing bigger things are doing.

And, because I'm petty, I also enjoy hearing people who are trying to brag about things that just don't dazzle me (I do not think your internship at Clorox was "fascinating," but those wipes are pretty great, so you do you, babe).

And let me guess, their grandkids in the sixth grade are taking advanced science courses, learning a fourth language, go to travel soccer, and are traveling to Africa for a cultural awareness trip? OP, you have to laugh. It's a lifestyle based on hyper neurotic bragging of one's supposed superiority.

Class alumni notes are the OG flex. Now there is FB, Insta, etc. It's hard not to feel some kind of FOMO, but when classmates post its all about them, not about you.

Don’t read the notes! A lot of people in retirement do fun and interesting things they never were able to do while working. You’ve chosen to do nothing and if you are happy with that great. But don’t complain about people who take the opposite approach.

Instead of trying to control other people— who are enjoying themselves, you should control the one person involved in all of this that you actually can control. Yes! That’s yourself. You can either simply stop reading the class notes — or you can volunteer to be the next editor, shape them as you will, and deal with any fallout.

Just don't read those pages. I went to MIT.

This is an interesting twist on the codger screaming "STAY OFF MY LAWN!"

No, you shouldn’t write to anyone. Every college alumni magazine has these things in them. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.

OP here. Thanks for the encouragement. As for the person above who suggested that I delete the email--what's an email? I get the news in print, like most of us past a certain age. Pretty sure I'm in the last house on my block that still gets the paper delivered to the front lawn every day. Yes, I know what email is, but it reminds me of the time when I was working a high-stress job, and I HAD to read and respond to emails. Good riddance!

Anonymous wrote: I have been enjoying being relaxed and away from the pressure of my former job. My health is good, although not perfect.

This is victory. Enjoy it.

No point in writing to the editor. Just stop reading it.

I knew I was getting old when I started looking at alumni notes from high school and college to see "who's dead".

I bet a bunch of people would be relieved and happy to just hear about a classmate being chill and happy in their retirement. You should write in with that. I bet others will follow suit.

Oh yeah, you should write to the editor and tell them you only want people to write in if they shat themselves publicly or got fired for white collar crime or their kids got arrested for the fourth time for stealing from old ladies.

Has it occurred to you to just ... delete the news email without reading it?

The answer is if you don’t want to hear about it, you should not read the class notes.

But also I’m sure your classmates would love to hear that you’re enjoying a relaxing retirement.

I just received the Alumni News from my college. My class notes are filled with classmates falling over themselves, telling of all the things they've done since retirement: Safaris in Africa, Opened a school for the poor in Ethiopia, built a cabin the the woods of Oregon, while keeping a home on an island in the Caribbean, Grown children graduated from MIT & Stanford. You get the picture. Since I retired (a number of years ago), I've done essentially nothing. I have been enjoying being relaxed and away from the pressure of my former job. My health is good, although not perfect. At first I laughed at these alumni, but obviously it has gotten to me, or I wouldn't be posting to DCUM for advice. Should I write to the editor of our class notes & tell these people to put a lid on it? That might make it worse.