“I did 29 years of shift work at ExxonMobil. I worked outside as an operator. I worked in the heat, in the rain, in the cold. I wore flame-retardant clothing, a hard hat, safety glasses, safety shoes. “When I hired in,...
“My mother died from breast cancer when she was 53 and I was diagnosed when I was 50. I pretty much thought I knew everything about going through it because I was in high school when she was diagnosed and I...
“I’ve had cancer and lost both my breasts. It wore down my husband, taking care of me while I was going through it all. He’s almost 80, so I figured it’s time for him to enjoy life. “He loves to go...
“My first husband died in a car wreck when he was 22 and I was pregnant with my son. My second husband went in for a hernia repair and got a staph infection. It hit his urinary tract and killed him....
“I’m a crane operator. I kind of go where the work is. I have a list somewhere of all the places I’ve been. I haven’t been in every state, but I’ve been in all different regions of the country. “With all...
“I just finished my term in the military. I was in the Army for four years, but I got hurt on a convoy. “It happened at a training facility in California. I was riding in the back of this really big...
“My son gave me a book, the story of my life. It’s a great, big book. It has all these questions in it, and you just answer the questions. The trouble is, I can’t write a thing anymore. I’m just glad...
“The first day I was in nursing school the teacher asked each of us, ‘What is your philosophy on life?’ I said, ‘I shall pass through this world but once. Any little thing that I can do for any human or...
“I grew up in Elgin, Oregon, way up in the hills and the mountains. I was a farmer’s daughter. We were what they called shoestring farmers. We didn’t make very much money. You lived year to year. Three bad years would...
“Before I left Chicago, I was a union carpenter. It slowed down a lot because of the Freddie Mac/Fannie May deal. There were no houses getting built because of all the bad loans. I was laid off for 2½ years and...
