I wrote the following partly in 2012 when I first decided to write a memoir, and partly in the fall of 2010. And, here I am in 2016, living in a different city, Essex Junction, Vt., no longer an innkeeper in Louisville, KY, and having that memoir published at this very moment
Moving On
Written in 2012: Owning the bed and breakfast has been a
wonderful experience and taught me a lot about myself. Although it was a risk,
it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. To me, taking
risks is what life is all about. And without that attitude, I would have missed
so much. My life has been very full...with lots of ups and downs.
This memoir is a result of the many
changes I went through in the past sixteen years and has prepared me to share
my life with whomever...When I think about who might be reading it right now;
it gives me chills and fills me with excitement. I am thankful that I
have come to the point where I willingly and honestly am able to open up and do
so. This was not always the case.
Written in October, 2010: It
is almost fall, my favorite time of year. My birthday is in the fall and, as it
happens, this is the fall of my life. I will be 80 on October 9th. I say fall
instead of winter because there will be no winter for me. I shall forever
remain on the cusp of winter...too busy to go there.
I love to work. I’m not exactly sure where
I picked up such a strong work ethic, but it seems like I've always been driven
by it. By the time I was 12, I was running my own neighborhood
baby-sitting agency. This went on for a couple of years, then I got my first
real job at age 14 in a local grocery store. At that time, many places hired 14 year-olds as there were not stringent labor laws for children. At 16, I was
working for J L Hudson Department stores in Detroit, Michigan for the credit
department. Later, I worked at a bank, a Vacuum Sweeper Co, doing PR, and at a
General Motors plant, testing newly hired employees. I was always working.
By the time I graduated from high school
and decided to go to college, I was working summers at a local swimming pool,
behind the towel counter. I spent five years at Wayne State University, first
studying Art for a year and then switching to a more practical undergrad degree
with a double major in English composition and Education. After that, more
education and working all sorts of short-term jobs, too many to mention here. I
ended up with a Master's in Music and Special Education, and certification to
teach music, English, Social Studies, ESL, and students with learning problems.
And what about retirement and that
winter-of-your life thing? In my mind, life is a continual re-inventing of who
you are, at least for me it has been. And who I am includes work. This is the
way it has gone so far. And, if I have anything to say about it, this is the
way it will continue to go until my last day.
Career #1
I was prepared to do a lot of
things. I was organized and had good planning skills and I loved to work. So it
was feasible that I could actually have more than one career. And that's
exactly what I have done. I was a teacher in the high schools of Chicago and
simultaneously a teacher of English as a Second Language in a local college
night school. After leaving the high schools, I taught at the University of
Illinois and worked on a PhD in Education at the same time.
Career #2
Now let me ask you, do you think a workaholic, type A, perfectionist could retire happily? Of course not. Well,
she sort of retired, for a couple of months that is. But soon reinvented
herself as an Innkeeper and started career #2.
Opening a bed and breakfast was challenging, fun, and
cost a hell of a lot of money; more than I ever anticipated. Being a
risk-taker, I went into it not knowing a thing about business, in retrospect;
not too bright an idea. I made it work though, with a lot of tenacity, blood,
sweat, and a few tears and have been a successful Innkeeper for 16 years,
Career #3
It's been a
great ride, but I am ready for a change now. I am ready for Career #3.
Retirement you ask? Maybe I never will retire, because in my next career I plan
to write. With bones aching and arthritis creeping up into every joint, I can
thankfully still type on my computer. I will sit in a lovely overstuffed
leather desk chair and happily document my life as an Innkeeper and write
articles for Hub Pages and the other sites where I will continue to earn a
little chump change and still feel productive. Retire?......I don't think so.
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