Greendale

As I write this in February 2008, my home is in a well-kept
independent living facility for people over age 55 or disabled over
age 40, having 123 apartments with 135 people in Janesville,
Wisconsin, where there is always someone to talk with. I am in
true retirement status with only volunteer work to keep me out of
mischief. Usually twice a week I drive to West Allis to help my son
in his auto repair business (no, not as a wrench!) in the office. A
grandson works there, too.
In addition to being a full-time homemaker with four children and
husband to care for, I graduated from LaSalle Extension
University in Interior Decorating. Then I did design work, as well
as painting in pastel, oil, and watercolors. I inherited ceramic
equipment, and taught China painting and ceramics in my home. I
exhibited, and sold my artwork in juried and non-juried art shows.
After self-study with State test out for Real Estate Broker
license, I sold real estate for 20 years, until I moved to Florida in
January 1998. I was employed as a church organist from 1985 to
2006 in various Christian denominations. There were other
part-time jobs, too.
For 17 years, I had a cottage on the shore of Lake Michigan, 10
miles south of Sturgeon Bay, WI, where I also lived year round
for one of those years with my son. That was quite a year I'll
never forget, with no plumbing, hauling water, waste and wood for
fireplace heat, and enduring pain of physical damage from a car
wreck a month after moving there! Despite hard times, I smile at
the memories, things like a neighbor taking me in for seven days
after the wreck. The activity of the Lake, especially in the middle
of winter with the 'ice shoves' piled at least 50 feet high on the
beach creating dead silence, will never be forgotten. The animals
in the forest and glorious sunrises were wonderful to view.
Foreign countries I visited were Canada, Mexico, Russia, England,
Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Egypt,
Jordan, Palestine, and Israel, besides traveling in the USA. My
four children, (two boys, two girls) have given me seven
grandchildren, most of them living in distant places.
I moved to Fort Myers, Florida full time in 1998. I invested in a
mobile home, renting the land in a 42-year-old mobile home park.
No hurricanes touched the Fort Myers, FL area from 1942 until
2004 with Hurricane Charley that completely destroyed the two
cities north of Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, but
also devastated much of Fort Myers including the park I lived in
and some of my mobile home. During that hurricane, I was laid up
in the only hospital of the five in the area that was not damaged
and was blessed in that I got in only two hours before they 'locked
down' the hospital for 36 hours, nobody in or out. Although I
survived seven more hurricanes in 18 months, some of the
'Tropical Depression' storms were worse in the damage they
created and the fright they caused as they happened. To say I'm
glad I'm away from there because of weather would be incorrect.
Some of the storms here in Wisconsin, especially the tornadoes,
blizzards, and the sub-zero days we've had lately, are just as
frightening. Some of the interesting work I did in the Fort Myers
area in those eight years included being a seasonal baggage agent
at the International Airport for 3+ years; airport agent for 6
months at the general aviation airport, and ship's store clerk at a
large marina, product demonstrator in grocery stores, and school
crossing guard.
I expected to live out the rest of my life there. The Bible
(Proverbs 16:9) says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord
directs his steps". Well, I was 'redirected'. For the short story,
when the mobile home park was sold, all 175 units, and their
residents were evicted to be out with only three months notice so
the new owner could build townhouse condominiums, all my
resources and support systems built in eight years vanished. My
brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Ann, found this lovely facility so,
with his and my son's help, I moved here to Janesville, WI, and I
am very thankful. I teach Bible classes, and, as instruments are
available, still play the pipe organ, piano, and my accordion. As
local Chapter Secretary of AARP, I write newsletters. I stay in
touch with friends and relatives via email and 'snail' mail, and my
life is very full and I am very thankful to God.

On Christmas Eve 2008 I began work AGAIN doing the job I love,
playing pipe organ. It is at an ELCA Lutheran Church, with written
contract through 2009 -- at the age of 72 !