This Crafting Baby Boomer is originally from Massachusetts where I spent most of my life working as a medical transcriptionist. My husband passed away and many things changed in my life. A series of twists and turns lead me to coastal Camden County Georgia right smack dab on the Georgia/Florida state line. An excellent place to be in winter. If you know anything about winter in Western Massachusetts, I’m sure you will agree. The last year I was there it was snowing 18-20” every three to four days. Temperatures were beyond cold with horrific wind chills. Put it this way…I know what frost bite is much to my chagrin. Always said my birth was a geographical error. So ending up down south was no hardship.
Quite a few years lapsed before I returned to work. When the children were grown, it was time to go out and get involved again. This turned out to be quite difficult. The area is very small and locating a job in itself was difficult, not to mention as a medical transcriptionist. There was one local hospital which had only one…one transcriptionist in the whole building. The more I looked it became clear technology ran me out of a job. Doctors were now all learning to type their own reports with some fantastic software that had been developed, as well as systems translating speech into documentation. Ouch!
Plan B was to retrain in a new career. But what? This job just kind of dropped in my lap when a friend told me about a learn-to-groom position at a local grooming and kennel facility. Yes, jackpot! I jumped at the chance to be around my favorite animals all day long. My application was submitted and they hired me as a bather and put me into a grooming class. With my love of dogs, I was in heaven u…n…t…i…l the groomer teaching the course got herself fired. The whole thing fell through. My heart broke. They were actually paying me to do something I loved greatly…be around dogs all day long and utilize my artistic ability.
I then went to a department store where I spent 3 years. That type of work was just not a job for me. One day my son called. He knew I was not thrilled with my job and wanted to let me know one of the salad bar attendants walked off the job where he was employed and was I interested. Cook? Salads? Now that’s up my alley. Another great job. I spent 7 years there until my shoulders and neck became injured with the heavy lifting. Very sad to know I had to do something else. I liked the kitchen.
Okay, regroup. I’m clever. Think Jeanne think. Bingo. I have sold my craftwork in the past just not full time. It all started when we used to camp all summer at a specific campground. I was painting plaques for various people who seen the campsite plaques hanging on our site. They wanted to know where I bought them. When they found out I painted them I got orders for their sites. Throughout the years I’ve gone to church holiday bizarres or local festivals, i.e. Catfish Festival in Woodbine, GA. That was fun! So here I go again…………..
At the age of 65, my life is under construction again. Here I am learning all about web sites, Etsy shops, Twitter and what not. Facebook and Pinterest were already a big deal because that’s where I keep in touch with family and get many crafty ideas. Expanding one’s knowledge is good. Once again I embark on a job that allows be to do what I truly love which is crafting.
“If nothing ever changes, there’d be no butterflies.” Annonymous
I am a butterfly! I am so blessed.