Hi, Sassy,

Congratulations on getting approved for Social Security !!

Well ... as to the questions ... you could say that you're retired and you're doing valuable work now for your community. OR, you could say you are unable to work right now because of your health. OR, you could say you're between jobs.

It's all up to you. "Technically", it's really not anyone's business, unless YOU feel like sharing.

You can tell the truth, you can tell a fib. You can tell them NOTHING.

If you're young, I would probably just say "I'm between jobs" and then go off in another direction talking about what you liked about your last job.

People are very easily distracted and it's pretty easy to get them to talk about something else. You'll get to be an "expert" in that

Now, if I were talking to CLOSE family or CLOSE friends, I might tell them that I'm unable to work due to depression and say that I could use any help that they're willing to offer.

Everyone doesn't need to know EVERYTHING about us.

Some people shouldn't know ANYTHING about us.

And some people can HELP US <<-- those are the ones you give the details to.

Psyche 'issues' are part of the reason for my disability too (in addition to the spine from 7734). I'm glad you'll start getting some income coming in; it makes 'things' easier to cope with.

BIG HUGS (and congratulations).

Barb