Fiji and Me

Chicago was my home town, but I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We all loved those Packers. I went back to Chicago to study nursing. This was during WWII,when we all wanted to help in the war to end wars. What I had wanted to be was an English professor so I could read and write all the time. I found thatnursing was a magic carpet in many ways.I married a doctor from North Carolina. We moved to Southern Pines and I was glad to raise my six children in a place where the winter wasn’t nine monthslong. My first vision of North Carolina was in April. Everything was in full bloom and I remember feeling that I had died and gone to heaven. People havesaid that it must have been difficult to have six children, but my memories are of enjoying it-- most of the time. My husband’s midlife crisis ended ourmarriage. At forty five, I went back to college to finish a graduate degree. I began a career in nursing which included teaching. My writing during mynursing career had more to do with work sheets and constructing tests than fun. I did enjoy writing long letters to my children and grandchildren as theycame along. In those days people wrote letters.I have always loved to travel. When an opportunity came to circumnavigate the globe with a friend, I took it. We spent a wonderful month in Japan,Thailand, Nepal, India, Dubai, UK and Canada before returning. I remember well how grateful I was to be home in the US. I’d heard about people kissing thesoil of their homeland and I understood.I married a former Duke art professor who had decided to paint full time. He said he would find a place where a nurse and an artist could live happily. Hefound Key West. I rented my house, packed my car and started driving down the Keys. When I got there I found a houseboat named Miss Maggie and we lived onher. It was a real adventure for me. I worked in a mental health clinic and met some of the unusual people who inhabit Key West. A lot of stories werethere to tell. After a year my story didn’t include the artist.I returned to North Carolina and went back to Duke Medical Center where I was head nurse of the Family Medicine Center. Residents were there learning to befamily docs, something I admired. After three years, I found myself ready for a change. My children were all self sufficient. I met a Peace Corps recruiterat a party and when I found I could go to Fiji I said, “Yes, please don’t give that place to anyone else”. It was a wonderful two years of my life. I lovedthe people and the beauty everywhere. I taught a bit and learned a lot.One of the things I learned in Fiji was what they called “diridiri”. It meant slow down and enjoy the moment. When I returned I went back to Duke to workin psychiatry, but never full time. I arranged my work so I could take classes at the Duke school for older people, now called OLLI. I also facilitatedclasses on Reading Shakespeare and Great Books. I taught English as a second language at our library. Doing these things, slow and easy, gave me joy.OLLI gave me more than a place to teach and learn. A classmate, Mal, and I shared a number of classes. Finally we decided to share life. Mal and I traveledto many places. He had been in the diplomatic service and knew Europe well, so I got to see some special places off the beaten path. He left for heaven ona train in Budapest after saying that our three week river cruise had been the happiest time of his lifeNow, I live in a wonderful village called the Forest.