Sandy wrote me, a little nervous, and said as she waited for us to publish her story she felt as if she had turned in an English paper and was waiting for a grade. We both laughed at that. It occurred to me that, yes, I have graded thousands and thousands of essays through fifty years; but the difference is that all of these stories are A+ in my book: Patti, Sherry, Jo, and now Sandy, with more to come. If it be true that I am the teacher for a while, all of you writers are the "teacher's pet," for sure!
I have to confess here that I always thought Sandy was one of the prettiest girls in school, and -- like all the others -- very sweet. We both go back to Southwest Elementary School, even Callaway Kindergarten (as she reminded me), so we knew each other back when we both had many missing teeth. She sang "She'll be comin' 'round the Mountain' with me at kindergarten graduation. That's going way back!
I lost Sandy when she went to Hill Street Junior High and I went to Westside; but we all met up again as sophomores, for which I am thankful. I can't express how proud I am -- and I know all of you are, too -- of each of our "newfound writers" of the Class of '74, and the ones yet to come! Thank you all.
And now for Sandy's long-awaited grade on her essay:
A++++
:)
:)
I’m not much of a writer but my dear friend Patti started this off so I thought I would give it a go…
I have had a blessed life, although the fifty years has included a lot of tragedy and heartbreak as well. I feel pretty sure that I am not alone in that. If you are lucky enough to live a long life, sadness comes along with it, but also great joy.
After LSHS, I spent four fun, but unproductive, years at Georgia Southwestern College in Americus. I do have a degree; but I have to admit, I didn’t obtain a great education. It was my own fault and not the school’s fault. I really wish that I had applied myself more. It is one of my life’s regrets.
With my degree, I was able to get a job with Georgia Power Company in the spring before graduation. What a lucky break!! The first six months, I tried to hide the fact that I didn’t know what I was doing and just learned as quickly as I could. I had great bosses and co-workers, so I skated by.
I spent twenty-one years with GPC, mostly in the Information Technology department doing computer support. I spent the last eight years in Economic Development at the Georgia Resource Center. Our role was to introduce prospective companies to the state of Georgia and entice them to locate or relocate to the state. It was great fun, and I met a lot of interesting people from around the world.
One of the fortuitous events that occurred at GPC was meeting my future husband. We were introduced by friends and co-workers who knew that we both loved travel, scuba diving, and skiing; and they felt we were a good match.
They were right! It took me thirty-four years, but I finally found my soulmate and partner in life.
We both left GPC in the early 90s. We went into property management – i.e., rental houses and remodeling homes. It was challenging but we were able to work for ourselves and still managed to stay afloat. My marriage gave me two sons and four beautiful grandchildren, all of whom I am very proud and love dearly.
Our life has been a challenge but also a lot of fun. We have traveled the world, and we used to do a lot of scuba diving and skiing. We’ve both gotten too old for the scuba diving and skiing, but we still enjoy travel.
We moved to north Alabama in the early 2000s. We like small-town living as opposed to fighting traffic in Atlanta. We also like the fact that you can travel by boat on the Tennessee River to anywhere in the world – not that we went around the world, but we did drive a boat from Naples, Florida to Scottsboro, Alabama and a second boat from Cleveland, Ohio to Scottsboro. It was a great adventure!!
We even lived on the second boat, full-time for two years and loved it.
Inspirations
So, how did I get here, and, now, fifty years later, and who inspired me along the way?
There are really too many people to mention. Some, like Patti and Sherry, are reading this now, I am sure.
I feel that I learn something from everyone that I encounter in my life, both good and bad. I was fortunate to have great parents who were extremely influential. My Mom taught me that women are not limited by their gender. I believe, if my memory holds, she was the first female production supervisor at Hillside and maybe even Milliken as a whole. She worked really hard to get that position and I am so proud of her accomplishments.
My Dad taught me to work hard and save my money. Even with their modest incomes, they scrimped and saved and put all three of us through college and still had enough left over to travel the world. They were the ones who planted the travel seed that blossomed in me and made such a great difference in my life.
While Mom and Dad planted the travel seed in me, I don’t know who inspired my need for exotic adventure. I know my husband fueled the fire, but the flame was already burning before we met. My grandmother always said that she was meant to be a pioneer woman, so maybe her genes are the “adventure genes” in me. I’ve never been a pioneer in anything, but I do love to learn new skills and challenge myself. Fortunately, I have good guardian angels, so I have lived through all of my “challenges.”
One Night's Guardian Angels
I met my first guardian angel in 1985 in a train station in Brussels, Belgium. I had been traveling with my future husband; and we went in separate directions in Munich, Germany, he to return to Turkey where he was working and me to travel on to London to visit my sister and her family. I was supposed to get off the train at the Central station; but when I got to the Midi station, I assumed it was one and the same.
NOT!
It was 11:30 p.m. There were no other trains leaving that night going anywhere. Because Europe was experiencing the coldest recorded temperatures in history, the stations were allowing the homeless to sleep in the stations at night. It was just me and them. I know that most homeless people mean no harm, but you could not have convinced me of that on that particular night. I could not figure out how to use the phone to call my sister, so I was stuck.
I was sitting alone, with all of my luggage, near panic and uncontrollable tears, when a young soldier walked up and asked me if I needed help. He said that he had missed his connecting train and was in the same situation as me. I asked him if he could help me use the phone and if he could give me change to make a call. He helped me to get in touch with my sister, and then he walked away.
I never saw my guardian angel again although I did meet the next one in a taxi waiting outside. Considering that it is after midnight, and there are no trains arriving, why were there taxis outside? There was one, though and he spoke English and was willing to accept the variety of currency that I had in my wallet as payment. He took me to the airport and to safety. Fortunately, I was not able to get a flight out that night, but was able to get one later the next day. I made it to my sister’s and finally home with good stories to tell about my guardian angels.
I have had many guardian-angel encounters and am blessed to be here today to tell their stories. God continues to protect me and to guide me along my path.
I have great friends, like all of you.
I have a wonderful family.
I have a loving and supportive husband.
Truly, I am blessed.
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