Deborah Whittington:
CLASS OF 1971
Travis High SchoolClass of 1971
Austin, TX
Deborah's Story
How to put over 35 years in perspective? Hmmm. . .
I have 3 grown children. David is in the Air Force, and will be sewing on his Staff Sergeant's stripes later this year. He just returned safely from Afghanistan to his lovely wife, Heather, in Charleston, SC. She teaches Math at Charleston Southern University. They will celebrate their 4th anniversary this summer. My son, Stephen, works as an apt. mgr. in Austin, coaches high school rugby, plays on a men's rugby team, and is working on his degree in History at Texas State. Elizabeth is a junior in Engineering at UT-Austin.
I've been teaching for the last 10 years at a suburban Houston school district, while picking up my science prerequisites to apply to Nursing School. My parents' health has deteriorated, and I moved in with them in Austin this past year to help my mother recover from a mild heart attack. I applied to UT-Austin, and will start classes there soon.
I've had several poems published in national and international poetry anthologies in the last five years. I'm also published online at a poetry website.
No matter where I've lived, I've used my degree in French. I became a volunteer ESL tutor with Literacy Advance-Houston, and tutored 3 refugees from Cote d'Ivoire, north Africa, so they could get jobs and become self-supporting in America. I've taught elementary students K-4th grade in a GT program how to speak, read, and write in French. When I finish my degrees in Nursing, I plan on teaching nursing, so that I can help ease the nursing shortage in the 21st century.
While in Houston, I was very active in Christian Single Adult Ministry. I served on the Planning Board for the Bay Area Christian Singles Alliance (B.A.C.S.A.), which at one time had 36 member churches participating in adult singles' outreach, ministry, Bible study, and fellowship.
Ten years ago, my son helped me pick out my first computer. I just recently started blogging. It's fun, but a little intimidating, too. Now I'm helping my parents learn to use their computer. We've dragged my father, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. Mom is a little more receptive to the possibilities of online chatting with her sister in Oregon.
Thirty-nine years ago, I was the new kid on the block in Austin. I've come full circle. Although I have hundreds of acquaintances and dozens of truly wonderful friends in Houston . . . Here I am in Austin, having to start from scratch! ;-)
My best friend is a para-legal for an international law firm in Houston. We keep in touch with phone calls, e-mails & texting. I love the 21st century! ;-)
The one good thing about moving to Austin has been getting to spend time with my son, sisters, brother, and assorted nieces and nephews who live in the Greater Austin vicinity. I don't have to drive 4 hours to see a game or attend a recital.
I decided to use my avatar, rather than a "real" photo of myself for a couple of reasons: The picture I used actually looks a lot like me; the room is similar to my workspace; the golden retriever is the pet I plan to have when I get my own place; a...Expand for more
nd, (the real reason) I don't have a photo of myself loaded on my computer. ;-)
If life is what happens when you have other plans, then I've certainly had a rollercoaster ride! I was married for over 20 years. I've been divorced for 14 years. I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tower Bridge in London, over the Grand Canyon at sunset, white-water rafting in Colorado. I've seen the Crown Jewels of France, England, the Romanovs of Russia, and the Ptolemies of Egypt. I've been serenaded by an Oxford University Men's Chorus at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and a Men's Barbershop Quartet in a restaurant in North Platte, Nebraska. I've seen George Strait in person 5 times. And was mentored by Grace Paley (American Poet). I've been the poorest person on the block and the richest person on the block. But the best thing I've been is a friend to those who needed me most. And the richest blessings I've had are friends who've stuck with me and helped me be the best of myself.
I still like to travel, but as the next generation of my family starts, I consider myself a Grandmama-in-training. My younger sister already has a granddaughter, which means I'm a Great-Aunt! I'm still waiting for my own little grandbaby to spoil madly and then send home to mommy and daddy (No pressure, Dave & Heather-- but, "tick-tock!")
I'm one of the few people I know who still sends snail-mail. I can remember in school when we'd be given a writing assignment, and I'd draw a complete "blank" on what to write. Now, most of the time, I start writing, and before I know it, I've written 8-10 pages! Who knew I had all these words in me? They keep raising the postal rates, too, so it's getting more expensive to send "books" over 1 ounce in the mail.
I don't plan on ever retiring. I plan on transitioning into writing, which I can do no matter how old I get. Since members of both sides of my family have lived active lives well into their 90's, I might as well make plans for the next 40 years. My friends ask me, "But what if you don't live that long?"
I watched my dad retire at age 50 and sit around "waiting for God." All seven of us brothers and sisters tried to get him to pick something to do. We said, "Dad, you could have 25 years with another career!" But he didn't want to do anything. We found out that he thought he would die at the same age as his father, before he was 70. When 70 came and went, and he didn't die, that's when he started doing some volunteer work in the community.
When he heard that I was planning on starting a whole new career in my 50's, he said, "Gee, I could have had another whole career!" Each of my brothers and sisters called and told me that he had told them the same thing. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry over the irony of it all.
I've made a point to do at least one thing a year that I'm afraid of, to keep fear from ruling my life. (Who knew I'd LIKE white-water rafting??) So, when it comes to making plans to continue to work at SOMETHING for the next 40 years . . . I like to tell my friends, "Well, you just can't count on dying!"
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