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Post by gmcwife1 on Jan 22, 2019 5:23:50 GMT
My mom was a teen mom, high school drop out. As a young mother she babysat while she was raising kids. Then she ran my fathers construction business. After that my parents got divorced. She then started waitressing, restaurant and cocktail. While she was doing that she also started working in the shipyard as a janitor. She also did security at the Navy base. At one point she worked three jobs as a single mother. She then became a painter for Johnson Controls. They did the painting and upkeep of the Navy housing complex. That was her career, she retired from that job after 20+ years for medical reasons.
Her mom was the first female apprentice in the Bremerton Naval shipyard. She retired from that career.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,376
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Jan 22, 2019 7:00:50 GMT
Yes. Teacher who rather quickly became a principal. Continued working full time after I was born, despite my disability. Had my brother when I was 11. He was born in May. She started her maternity leave in April, I think. Maybe mid March (spring break)? That would make more sense.
And she was back for the last couple weeks of school that year, by choice.
My Nana wanted her girls to have careers and be able to be independent. And they saw their aunt, who actually is pretty close to their age (my Nana was the middle of 3; great aunt youngest - big age gap) stuck in a crappy marriage, not by choice.
That said all 3 of them - my mom and her two sisters - have had long, relatively happy marriages.
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
Jun 25, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
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Post by katybee on Jan 22, 2019 11:54:41 GMT
She did.
She was an accountant. She was the controller of several large companies and eventually on the board of directors for a large tech company in Silicon Valley. I am extremely proud of her accomplishments. Even though it was the early 2000’s, there were very few women at her level. And she was a great mom, too. (She passed away from pancreatic cancer at 58).
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Post by FuzzyMutt on Jan 22, 2019 18:01:46 GMT
No. She had very little education and has never been interested in gaining knowledge about anything. She's spent the last 30 odd years sitting in the same chair, going from that to the bathroom to bed. That has been her whole life. What a bloody waste, I am so angry at her for doing it. My mom as well. Except she sleeps on the couch.
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Post by just PEAchy on Jan 22, 2019 18:08:38 GMT
My mom was a secretary for a few years after high school. She quit when she had her 2nd child and was a SAHM mom until my youngest brother was in high school. Then she worked as a waitress for about 5 years, then as a receptionist in a local government office for 20 years. She retired when she was 72.
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Post by FuzzyMutt on Jan 22, 2019 18:13:30 GMT
jeremysgirl .....Your Mom's story is SO inspiring! scrapmaven .....Oh, how COOL !!!!! lainey ....If you don't mind me asking, does your Mom suffer bad depression? My Mom ended up extremely depressed with severe alcoholism, and the last few years of her life, she also did NOTHING, didn't go anywhere, etc. My mother was a chemist at a pharmaceutical company during WWII. Wow!!! scrappintoee... I also have a mom like Lainey described her mother. My mother has been severely depressed her entire life. She also has severe anxiety and is afraid of everything. She knows it's not good, and won't do anything to change it. No counseling, no letting in fresh air and ideas, nothing. I love her dearly, and would love to see her happy. She has no hobbies and does nothing but watch court shows. The only thing that brings her joy is her kids and grands, but that is short lived. She doesn't struggle with substances.. but she does have extremely worrisome eating habits. She'll calorie restrict herself to lose weight, but "spend" all her calories on ice cream or candy. She doesn't eat much protein and gets no exercise. I hate watching her waste away. I'm sorry your mom's talents didn't coincide well with her life trajectory. That has to be very hard to witness in later years.
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Sarah*H
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,983
Jun 25, 2014 20:07:06 GMT
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Post by Sarah*H on Jan 22, 2019 18:15:10 GMT
My mom is the marketing director for a large international corporation. She started her career later in life, when I was in middle school, but the late start doesn't seem to have held her back. She'd like to retire in the next few years though.
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Post by aprilfay21 on Jan 22, 2019 18:53:35 GMT
Mine is/was a career alcoholic and an absentee parent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Luckily I had a very hard working dad and great aunts and grandmother to pick up her slack.
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Post by jcm28 on Jan 22, 2019 19:04:43 GMT
Another pea whose mom was a nurse. She went to nursing school when I was in junior high (middle school). She was in her mid 40’s. She worked 3-11. I have a great photo of her in her nurses whites with me in my prom dress, standing in the nurses station. I kinda followed in her footsteps. Went to nursing school in my mid 30’s. Recently retired after 31 years at the same hospital where my mom worked.
Janet
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Post by Zee on Jan 22, 2019 22:49:26 GMT
I love all the nurse moms! I'm the first nurse in my family and maybe the last. They all think my job is disgusting. I know it's fascinating!
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,748
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Jan 22, 2019 23:00:52 GMT
Yes. My Mum trained as a nurse. She was a district nurse when she met my pharmacist father.
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Post by meriannj on Jan 22, 2019 23:45:50 GMT
No. She had very little education and has never been interested in gaining knowledge about anything. She's spent the last 30 odd years sitting in the same chair, going from that to the bathroom to bed. That has been her whole life. What a bloody waste, I am so angry at her for doing it. Do we have the same mom? When we were young she did the PTO mom for a few years and made sure she went to bingo nights at the lodge but once we were in HS and college she just stopped doing things and watches TV 20 hours a day. So sad.
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Post by scrappintoee on Jan 25, 2019 8:40:09 GMT
jeremysgirl .....Your Mom's story is SO inspiring! scrapmaven .....Oh, how COOL !!!!! lainey ....If you don't mind me asking, does your Mom suffer bad depression? My Mom ended up extremely depressed with severe alcoholism, and the last few years of her life, she also did NOTHING, didn't go anywhere, etc. Wow!!! scrappintoee ... I also have a mom like Lainey described her mother. My mother has been severely depressed her entire life. She also has severe anxiety and is afraid of everything. She knows it's not good, and won't do anything to change it. No counseling, no letting in fresh air and ideas, nothing. I love her dearly, and would love to see her happy. She has no hobbies and does nothing but watch court shows. The only thing that brings her joy is her kids and grands, but that is short lived. She doesn't struggle with substances.. but she does have extremely worrisome eating habits. She'll calorie restrict herself to lose weight, but "spend" all her calories on ice cream or candy. She doesn't eat much protein and gets no exercise. I hate watching her waste away. I'm sorry your mom's talents didn't coincide well with her life trajectory. That has to be very hard to witness in later years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FuzzyMutt .......I'm so sorry about your Mom, that is very sad! Has she been this way her entire life? It is SO sad that she won't seek help...(( hugs )) I didn't mention this in my OP, but Mom was severely abused as a child by her Mother. I also didn't mention that I THINK she enjoyed being a stay-at-home Mom while we were growing up (BEFORE the drinking!) She made our birthdays SO FUN, plus EVERY holiday, especially Christmas. She was also a great cook and baker. We DID have many happy years, until I was ten. My precious baby brother was only 5 when she got "lost in the bottle", so I became his ersatz Mommy. When she was extremely drunk--(which was every. single. day. for many years)---she would tell us we were LUCKY that no one had thrown a heavy wrought-iron skillet at our heads like her Mom did to her. Nope, we were NEVER physically abused, but the VERBAL abuse was......horrible! (Thank God for therapy, annnd, my siblings and I also have VERY good senses of humor!!!) We also realize that whenever we recall a HORRIBLE memory and try to make it humorous, we're totallllly "laughing to cover up the PAIN"....Ugh, we'd all shed SO many tears, sometimes we NEEDED to laugh! You mentioned her later years.....yes, it was VERY hard to see her suffer, then die at the young age of 54 from cirrhosis of the liver.
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Post by scrappintoee on Jan 25, 2019 8:42:13 GMT
I'm finally reading everyones' replies, and I've enjoyed it so much !!!!! I want to make SO. MANY. comments, but it would take FOR. EV. ER !!!
This has been SO interesting; thank you for sharing!
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Post by jenb72 on Jan 25, 2019 13:16:19 GMT
My mother went to college and became a secretary early on in my parents' marriage. I'm not sure at what point she stopped working but I think it was when they moved to Germany (Dad was in the military at the time) and she didn't start working again until around 1984 when we moved here to GA. Then she went to work at the local elementary school as a secretary (my sister was attending at the time - I was in middle school). She always said it was for "mad money". She worked there up until she got sick (ovarian cancer) and passed away in 1993 when I was 21. I don't think she had any plans to retire at the time, so in that sense, it would have been a career for her had she lived long enough. But she was a SAHM for most of the younger years of our lives.
Jen
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Post by whipea on Jan 25, 2019 16:14:46 GMT
My mother always worked and was a Draftsman which was a male dominated career path. She started out in the 1940s specializing in roads, then worked for the government during the war on airports, the first computers and other military projects. Later she moved to the private sector, worked for commercial architects until retirement. She was a great example for women as her professionalism and skill validated her role in the workforce. It was a sexist and tough environment. I was latch key throughout my childhood. Kids used to make fun of me because my mother was not home baking cookies which was the norm in the late 50's and early 60's. I didn't care, thought my mother was a rebel.
Due to her efforts and contributions in removing gender barriers in the workplace, I have been successful in a challenging and rewarding career that was once a male dominated field.
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azredhead
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,755
Jun 25, 2014 22:49:18 GMT
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Post by azredhead on Jan 25, 2019 17:13:12 GMT
Very early on she did- after HS and before marriage. She was well known in school back then for her talent. She did Broadway. and other smaller community theatre. I was gonna post about it on my famous connection link there is a few that she performed with including the Osmonds. She despised Marie LOL! She is the same age as the older boys. So they did some stuff together.
While we were around she did keep performing at different community things, involving my sisters and my brother. My sister is really the one who took on her talent musically both performing and playing instruments. Without needing sheet music many times just by sound. . . She also had odd jobs while we were young, to help make ends meet with 7 kids. She was very talented in lots of ways besides music. She wallpapered for buisness, and in her later years she did pottery and wool making skills for employeers and friends. She also worked with several hstorical societies as they restored an old home while I was in HS. She has a very long distinquesed list. She died unexpectedly two years ago this Feb 9. Today would be the 29th Anniv of her and my stepdad #.3 who was with her for most of her musical career.
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Post by cmpeter on Jan 25, 2019 17:13:54 GMT
Not really a career, but she’s always worked...very unique jobs.
She met my dad when she was 18 and left home to travel with him. He was a carnival barker. She performed in some of the shows and did other odd jobs for the carnival. After I was born they settled some and she worked as a dealer in a casino.
When I was two she was tired of the “film-flam/con artist” life and convinced my dad to join a commune. He only lasted a few years and then they divorced.
The commune owned a candle factory and she helped run that. She left the commune when I was 8 and managed a health food store until I was in jr high. She then went to work at an alternative energy store. We lived off the grid and she was very interested in setting up solar, wind and water power for our property. She was good at it and started designing systems for other customers. She worked there until she married and moved with my step dad to live on a sail boat and travel.
She’s divorced and retired now. Still has the boat but doesn’t sail any more. Before she retired she was short some credits to be eligible for Social Security so she opened her own dog walking business. She currently volunteers at the library (manages their used book sales).
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