Re: To: Mike

[Guest guest]

Barb, My mother used to tell her friends that I had done more, drunk more, and seen more in my

life (I was 22 at that time.) than she had in hers. LOL I never thought I was doing anything unusual,

but I wanted a career in theater arts so I pursued anything that would put me closer to that goal. I

worked in catering, short order houses as a line cook, cocktail waitress, dinner house hostess, nanny,

housekeeper, accountant, secretary, singer with small jazz combo, actor, writer, painter, seamstress,

costume designer for live theater, ombudswoman, union board of directors treasurer, vice president

of the board, member and secretary of the board of directors for an adoption agency, member of

county and state wide committees on education, special needs children, ad infinitum ad nauseum. I

retired from the local county office of education (superintendent of schools) after 23 years with that

office in various capacities in the classified service. I was top union steward, president of our local,

and as mentioned above a member of the board of directors for the union for 22 of those 23 years.

I adopted four children, am now the grandmother of two and still have two boys at home to raise,

and am now reduced to listing getting the dishes done in one day as a major accomplishment.

I think for me, the hardest part of this damned family of autoimmune diseases isn't the pain, or even

the fatigue, it's the loss of human contact and intellectual stimulation that came with a life in the

arts, and education. BUT, I'm certainly not going to complain for long...after all, it beats being the

central figure of interest at a funeral, doesn't it? Besides, I have many compensations in my life,

and chief among them are my young sons, my love of good books, and my occasional bursts of

energy that let me sit at my computer and write, and most importantly...all of you. Loving hugs, MM

[Guest guest]

Barb, Thanks. I'll try that. Hugs, MM

[Guest guest]

Barb, Thanks. I'll try that. Hugs, MM

[Guest guest]

Barb, Thanks. I'll try that. Hugs, MM