At this point, I returned to VT where a Master’s degree is required to practice my profession, so what did I do? I worked at Zales Jeweler’s in the Great Rutland Mall for 2 years.

 

It was fun working there, making new friends and handling beautiful jewelry.

 

In 1978, I left Zales to pursue my graduate degree at SUNY in Geneseo, NY, but quit school early in 1979 to move to FL to be with my future husband. We were married at sunrise on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale in 1979.

 

Unfortunately, I soon discovered that I had married a somewhat abusive, addict. I learned a lot in the six years we were together…some things, I feel, I really didn’t need to learn.

 

The only good thing that came out of my two years in FL was getting two years of experience being a Speech Therapist in a middle school. It was quite helpful to work in the field before returning to grad school. I had a better understanding of what is expected of an SLP in the school system.

 

While in FL, I longed to be near my family again, so we moved to VT. I still didn’t have my graduate degree, so I took a job at the Killington Ski Area. I worked at the Ski School desk selling tickets and convincing out-of-staters to take a ski lesson. Fun. I also had to handle complaints when the lifts were closed due to weather. Not fun.

 

After working one year with another SLP as a Teacher of the Handicapped, I went to grad school at UVM and earned my MS degree. Despite all the work involved, it was a great year! I was away from my husband which gave me the strength to throw in the towel on the marriage. After a free visit with a lawyer, I did a DIY divorce which cost me $50. The weight of the world was lifted! Yaaaay!!

 

From grad school, I took a job with Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union. I had six schools and two assistants. Crazy! I worked here for four years before moving to SC with my boyfriend.

 

We returned to VT the following year when I discovered that my mother was ill. I took a job with Windsor Central Supervisory Union where I had four schools. When my mother’s health worsened, we returned to Rutland and I took at job with Rutland City Schools. My mom passed away in 1993 at the age of 68 (our current age). It was a terrible loss to me and our family.

 

At that point, I took over the responsibilities of matriarch for the family which primarily meant caring for my little brother, Jon, who was born with Downs Syndrome. He was always the joy of my life so taking care of him was no problem. He was also the person who most influenced my career choice.

 

I was always going to be a teacher, but he helped me narrow it down to what kind of teacher. We had a great span of time with Jon enjoying good health but early in 2000, his health started failing. He passed away in May of 2000. His death was very difficult to handle. I had lost my best bud! He was my dad’s best bud, too.

 

Enter Ron (1999). I truly believe God handpicked Ron for me. We met online (oh yes we did!), a random, purely chance meeting. We hit it off right away and moved from chatting online to talking on the phone….very long conversations.

 

We met in person months later and found that our attraction to each other was real. We dated monthly, traveling the three hours to see each other. Ron was truly my rock as Jon’s health spiraled downward. He even wrote a beautiful poem for Jon’s “Celebration of Life”. My only regret is that the two of them didn’t meet before Jon got sick. Jon would have loved Ron and vice versa.

 

I'm an orphan now, lost my dad in 2010 (age 91) and my older brother in 2019 (age 70). Luckily, Ron comes with a large Cuban family who loves to get together and party! He also has a lovely daughter, Lauren, who is married and living in Fernley, NV.

 

In June, 2000, I took a giant leap of faith and moved to CT to be with Ron. Our first trip together took place the day I got out of school. We hopped on a jet and flew to Atlanta where we went to my first major league baseball game! The Red Sox lost to the Braves that night but my cousin & her husband made sure we had a great time as we danced from club to club in the Buckhead section of Atlanta.

 

Since then, we’ve been on cruises to Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Caymen, Cozumel, Costa Rica, and halfway through the Panama Canal.  We’ve also vacationed in Key West several times, Islamorada, Duck Key, Tampa, St Pete’s Beach, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, Greenwich Bay, RI, Barra de Navidad, Mexico (where we experienced a 7.8 earthquake and several aftershocks), and St. Kitts.

 

On June 11th, 2011, at 11 AM, we were married on the Flower Bridge in Simsbury, CT. It was the best wedding ever with a fabulous reception where everyone danced the night away to the music of the Tirebiter Band! We’ve been together now for 22 years, 11 of them married.

 

In between all of the fun, I worked for 20 years as an SLP for Shared Services in the public school system. I loved my job but, because of stupid COVID, I retired in the fall of 2020. It was the hardest decision I ever made but because of almost losing my life to a virus in my 40’s, I couldn’t risk my health.

 

Since then, I’ve done some speech/language teletherapy, helped a restauranteur with speadsheet creations, enjoyed facepainting at events, and assisted my husband with online auctions.

 

Also during the pandemic, since both of our vacation plans were cancelled, we decided to buy a place on the CT shore that we could escape to. We’ve made some renovations to the house and had a pretty good first rental season last summer.

 

We escape to the shore as often as we can to restore our negative ions and enjoy our little piece of beach life.