Early Career…Middle Career…Final (I Think) Career

Yes, I’ve had three careers.. Teacher…realtor…and along the way, writer.

In 1972, as a young teacher with a BA, my salary in the Cranston, RI school system was $9705 per year. That amounted to $744 a month from which I’d pay rent, food, utilities, car loan, insurance and pay the woman who cared for my one-year-old child. (my ex-husband, never paid child support, tho’ the Court had ordered it.)

I worked as teacher for 30 years. When I left that profession in 1997, my salary was $43,000. I was only 51. (One can’t retire at such an early age, today.)

So, after two yrs of blissfully writing (because I finally had the time), I decided I needed something other than mere engagement with my computer, so I went into real estate.

By the fourth year, I was making $150,000 a year. But making significant money was never my main motivator regarding what I’d next do, for I’d paid off most of my financial obligations: My house was mortgage-free; I’d put my kids through college without loans; my husband Paul was retiring. Our plan was to live in Asheville, NC, for 6 months of the year and eventually move there, full time.

So, I left that 2nd career…walked away at the top of my game. Quite simply, being a realtor (though financially rewarding), never spoke to my soul. It never gave me the return that teaching had.

I wanted more time to write, and in that capacity, over the next years, I published four non-fiction books (I don’t write fiction, tho’ I should probably try to crack into the romance novel world as that seems to be the most popular genre and the most financially profitable). However, as I said, making money was never my prime motivation–hence my struggling writer status. (Hint–Don’t become a writer if you like money. My front page stories in our state newspaper paid $100– $150 if I provided pictures to go along with the content.)

I have three more books I plan to publish. My remaining time will be spent on completing these and advocating for veterans.

The photo at the top of this post is of the first school I was assigned–Park View, Cranston, RI, now a middle school. In 1967, it was a junior high–a sprawling building of 1500 adolescents and one of the only public schools in the state with an indoor swimming pool.

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