Okay, One Thing About Work

This doesn't really count because it's not about work per se, but about an interview I just did. For a piece on how education has changed, I interviewed an alumna from the class of '41--she's almost 89 years old. I have never spoken to anyone who had such a wonderful, upbeat attitude. Everything was fabulous to her, and sincerely so (as opposed to those you meet where everything is faaaabulous, dahling). She ran a private kindergarten after high school to make money to go to college, and she charged kids 50 cents a week (she said to me, "That was during the deep depression. You're awfully young, dear. Did you know we had a depression?"). She picked them up in her 1927 Ford Beech wagon in the morning, worked with the kids till 3:15, then hopped a bus and was in class in Boston (she lived way out) by 4:30. When we got of the phone, she sang me a line from a song, as she says she always does. If a positive attitude will keep you going, this woman will live forever. I'm trying to remember her as I go through my frustrations of the day, and it does help somewhat. (I'll be sure to scan in the article I write about her, so you can see what I mean.)