Who Am I?

Who Am I?

Heck If I Know

I don’t know why, but it feels like a job interview every time I’m asked, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

Uh…

Even now, retired and freelancing from home, I can’t get away from that question.

A story is accepted for publication in an anthology.

My first reaction: Wow! Hurray! Thank you so much! I am so excited!

Second reaction: Wait, what’s this? You want a short biography?

Third reaction: Can I just write you another story? You know, about a fictional…me?

Yeah…

See, I am not very exciting or interesting. I write so I can pretend to be exciting and interesting. I write so I can be brave and strong and smart. I change the names and playact my way through adventures and perils and problems that actually have solutions by the end of the story.

Real life isn’t like that.

“Tell me a little about yourself.”

“Please provide a short bio to go along with your published work.”

Yikes!

Who am I?

Well. Um.

I am a daughter. My parents, Paul and Joyce, were married in August 1957 and remained each other’s best friends until July 24, 2020 when Dad moved on to the next chapter—whatever that might be.

I live most of the time with my mother now, taking care of her as she gets—you know—less able to take care of herself.

It’s odd. I came here a few years ago to help her take care of Dad. He had dementia, and he wasn’t at all cooperative when it came to minding Mom. But for some reason, if I bossed him around, he did as he was told. “No driving. Eat your food. Drink more water.”

Last year was a nightmare that should be its own story, and maybe one day I will write that.

Wait.

This is supposed to be about me.

Whoops.

Okay, I came along in 1960, which makes me a little old lady.

At the age of six I was desperately ill with measles. In my mind, the worst of that illness was missing my narrator role in the Christmas play—I had it all memorized; what would they do without me? I have no idea what they did without me. I was so sick, I don’t even remember Christmas that year.

But I had my priorities!

I was a good student. I learned to read well before I ever started school, so I was bored at first. Luckily, a teacher recognized my plight and gave me extra work. Hurray!

Of course, now I believe she did it so she could keep me from chatting up the other kids while they were doing their work.

My biggest discovery ever was the public library. I went inside that building and was transported—Heaven on Earth. All those books! FREE! I hung out with the librarian, and she issued me my first library card.

Walking home with my allotted four books, I was on cloud nine. When my mother met me—frantic, because she’d been searching for me and was sure I’d been kidnapped and murdered—she couldn’t stay scared or angry because she had never seen me so happy.

I was forgiven. I also got “The Lecture” from Dad and rules about never again coming home late without making a phone call so they wouldn’t worry.

I have four siblings, but I was always a loner. There was a “cupboard under the stairs” type room in my childhood home, and I turned that little space into my reading and writing cave. I wrote my first stories there. I drew pictures. I learned to type on Dad’s old Royal, sitting on pillows on the floor with the brute on top of an old steamer trunk.

I used that typewriter all through school and beyond. It was lost when my house burned down in 1993, and by that time I was a single parent to four children.

I was married just out of High School. So dumb. But that marriage gave me my kids, so not take-backs.

Then I wasn’t married. Then I was again, fool that I used to be. Then I wised up and wasn’t again.

I’ve remained wise since 1999. It works for me.

I had all four children by the time I was 24.

Uterine tumors nearly did me in after the birth of number 4. Although they were later deemed “benign”, their lack of malignancy wouldn’t have kept them from causing me to hemorrhage to death if they hadn’t been dealt with when they were. I missed that termination deadline by about a week, according to the doctor.

Thank goodness, because I needed to be there for the kids.

I was a full time mom until the kids were all in school.

I participated in an Alumni theater group and other theater groups in my spare time. I think I had an infant at most rehersals between 1982 and 1985. My co-actors were all familiar with my boobs--I nursed all three daughters during my theater days. This was years before nursing became an "issue", I guess. Maybe I was just lucky.

Side note: I was pregnant during our production of Our Town. When we started, I wasn't even showing, but I refused the part of the young woman, just in case. Thank goodness I did! During intermission, a woman I knew--an EMT--came backstage to remind me she was in the audience if I went into labor. Ha ha!

About two years later, that woman helped save that baby's life when she had a seizure and stopped breathing. That's a story for another day.

After all the kids were in school, and a brief period of blah jobs, I became an Optician, which was a bit of a surprise; I always believed I’d be a single woman and a drummer in a rock band.

(Actually, I was, but I left the group when I “fell in love”. I wish I had photos of my rock & roll days, but my house burned down. We were good. We had fun. I miss those days.)

I also once thought I’d be a librarian. I don’t know what happened there. Life got busy, I suppose. I was going to go to college after I got married and study Library Sciences. I got pregnant instead, so college was put on hold. (For a long time!)

I always had a lot of interest in the eyeglasses game, since I had quite bad vision after those few weeks with measles. The Eye Doctor impressed me.

Measles are no joke. I’m old enough that the vaccination came after my confinement. I’m happy to report that my very wise mother isolated me from my siblings and no one else caught them.

I would also add that although I have had the vaccination several times after having the actual disease, I have never developed an immunity. When I worked at The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado, I had to get a vaccine every single year! (Yes, I am weird.) So if you're not immunized and measles are making the rounds, stay away from me. They'd likely kill me now.

Anyway, I fell into the Optician job quite by accident. I took my kids for eye exams and the Optician asked me to apply for an opening. They hired me, trained me and I fell in love with it. I spent many years in the industry. Seeing children experience corrected vision for the first time is a joy for me.

I also worked as an Ophthalmology surgery scheduler, insurance verification specialist and medical coder.

How any of these job choices led to my college degree in Graphic Arts and Animation, I do not know. But I do love Illustrator and Photoshop! I loved telling a story in 2-D or 3-D. I especially loved doing the scripts. I finally got my Bachelor of Science in 2006.

Better late than never!

Severe asthma led me into early retirement. I was quite upset about it, but when it came time for someone to be with my parents full time, I had to adjust my attitude about that. Now I am very grateful that I have the freedom to be where I am needed.

Before that happened, I returned to an old love I had neglected for a long time—writing. I’d done a bit for college, and it was like coming home. So, with all my newfound free time, I wrote a lot.

Then I just let the stories sit there, until my son pushed me into trying self-publishing.

There’s quite a thrill in making your first sale—especially since it was to a complete stranger who happened to see it on Amazon! I didn’t even know the concept of self-promotion at the time.

So, who am I?

I am a published author!

I am an artist.

I am a musician and an actor.

Also, I am a daughter.

I am a big sister. I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers.

I am a mother of 4, a son and 3 daughters.

I am a grandmother of 9. The oldest granddaughter got married last week; the youngest starts kindergarten soon. There are 4 boys, 5 girls.

My bestie is a Chihuahua named Molly. She runs my life.

I am the “cool” grandmother, per the kids. I give the cool gifts (not clothes!) I take them to comic conventions. I watch the kid movies with them, draw and paint with them and I actually play when I play. They like that.

Also, I am the storyteller; the queen of make-believe; the great what-if questioner. “What if you could fly? Where would you go? What if a unicorn knocked on the door? Would you let her in?” The answers to these questions make the children the storytellers and the artists and the song-writers.

I hope that’s what I am most of all—the influencer who helps them be storytellers, artists, musicians and whatever else they want to be.

And I hope they take me to comic conventions when they grow up, because I will need someone to push me around in my highly decorated fancy wheelchair.

There are other stories to tell, but what can I say? I have no idea who I might be! I'm still figuring it out.

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