Who I am: 55 years in 500 words

I stood in line, sat in front of a camera and smiled, and walked away with a thin plastic card clenched in my fist, like thousands before me, only… I cried.  My life has been a journey through time, the product of experiences, choices, and dreams, and this card was the doorway to a dream I thought could never be mine. 

A baby boomer born in Napa Valley, California, my childhood education was earned as a US Navy brat.  Schools in California, Virginia, and Maryland taught me a lot about differences within our own country, while three years in Japan and two in Scotland allowed me to learn of other cultures and peoples.  A time of exploration and adventure, my sister, brother, and I made paths through forgotten bamboo groves exploring the Japanese countryside and rode rusty bicycles down many Scottish roads, in awe of hills covered with purple heather and Highland cattle.  And I learned that life was a beautiful journey.

A teenage American woman during the free-spirited early 1970’s, I learned a lot about the consequences of choice.  My high school diploma in one hand and my letter of acceptance to Indiana University in the other, I realized that dreams of higher education were not as important as life growing within.  At that time in rural southern Indiana, girls didn’t go to college pregnant.  They married.  So marriage I chose.  And I learned that life was a journey with pain.  But I also learned the beauty of love between mother and child.

As a devoted mother and homesteader of the 1980’s, I learned what it was like to step into a man’s world in the workforce, becoming the first woman pipefitter/plumber within the Central Foundry division of General Motors.  Serving an 8000 hour apprenticeship to earn my journeyman status, I worked long hours of backbreaking work, retiring after a thirty year career.  During those years I learned that life was not a fair journey for women.  But I also learned the value of hard work and that you can realize great accomplishment if you never give up.

Two children to support as a single mother, I bought a farm and remarried. Years of experiences and choices allowed me to appreciate that which I may have overlooked when I was younger.   During the 1990’s I learned the joy of being married to your best friend and the wonders of two more children, and I learned that life was a journey of satisfaction and peace worth discovering. 

The new millennium brought with it rekindled family relationships, precious grandchildren, and homeschooling for our two youngest children.  As our son finished high school and pursued his dream of attending Indiana University with their AFROTC program the fall of 2011, I remembered my dream of so long ago…..

I stood in line, sat in front of a camera and smiled, and walked away with a thin plastic card clenched in my fist, like thousands before me, only… I cried.  My student ID card from Indiana University was the doorway to my dream, and I learned within my life’s long journey dreams really can come true.