Career surprises

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit old friends in Georgetown, Ohio. To that end, I walked through the Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG) for the first time in decades. A lifetime ago, it was from that airport that I left for stewardess college in Dallas and preparation for my first job as a flight attendant for American Airlines. I was so excited.  But I had no idea then of the choices I would have to make at the milestones in my life.

About two years after that, I quit flying, having developed issues with my ears. By then I was living in Los Angeles. I began working for a department store in Beverly Hills, but I sort of fell into various jobs from then on. I worked in advertising, the motion picture industry, banking, healthcare, investments and then the corporate world, which is when I began to write. As a member of the marketing department, writing was one of my responsibilities and I grew to love it. On the side, I wrote what I called a “romantic spy thriller,” which, to my delight, was accepted by a local newspaper. The serial ran weekly for the next 18 months and consistently brought in new subscriptions for the paper.

My Ohio friends, Annette and Chuck, have a beautiful farm, and it did my heart good to stay there, visit with them and simply absorb the peace and quiet of their 130 acres.  It so happens they are very good writers, so we were never short of subjects for conversation. In fact, since both Chuck and I are train enthusiasts, he has suggested that we collaborate on a book about choo-choos (stay tuned).

When I returned to CVG to catch the plane back home, I had time to sit and watch the activity on the tarmac through a wall of windows and think about the great time I’d had in Georgetown. The airport had changed and grown over the years, of course, but I could still remember what it looked like in days gone by. Of course, it was smaller then, less complex. But, as a young person, so was my world. On the day I left for stewardess college, I couldn’t see very far into the future. I had no way of knowing that I would eventually become a writer, let alone a published author.

A long time ago, I satisfied my desire to fly. But life takes us in many directions. As I boarded the plane at CVG following my delightful Ohio getaway, I reflected on the years I spent in a variety of occupations. It was my good fortune to happen upon a path that eventually brought me to the rewarding world of a freelance writer.