Who would have thought? Certainly not me. My career as a nurse lasted 25 years and I gave it up willingly when my husband said that I didn’t have to do it anymore although I could continue if I wanted to. I was tired to the bone from working shift work and sore from lifting patients who couldn’t lift themselves. They were usually bigger than me. At 5 feet 2 and half inches I am not very tall and I was usually lifting alone.
After retirement I cast around in my mind to discover what I would really like to do with all this free time. Music! I’d always wanted to study music. So I took up organ, voice and violin. I had had piano lessons when I was a child and played bagpipes as a young woman but this was a whole new challenge.
In the course of my studies I was required to take two writing courses. These were two courses of my choice that were designated as writing courses. I could have taken Astronomy as long as I was graded for my writing skills as well. I had always wanted to try my hand at creative writing. So I signed up and off I went to my first class. We received our syllabus on the first day, of course. I looked at the requirements and gave a mental gasp. Two short stories and five poems! I’d never written a short story, never mind a poem, in my life. I’d forgotten the one poem and several short, short stories I’d written in Junior high English. I considered dropping it right there. No, I thought: “in for a penny, in for a pound. I signed up and I won’t back down. By the end of the course I’d discovered that I was a better writer than I was a musician and it was a lot more fun.
