Pam Genovesi:  

For over half a century I’ve worked in just about every industry around the world- both paid and volunteer. Most of the time I held multiple jobs simultaneously. I would juggle a full time with one or two part time jobs. At the end of working life comes retirement, and not a minute too soon as my first retirement party was in April 2013, which didn’t last long because the fixed income didn’t work out. Not enough income too many bills I've lived in Arkansas, Washington and Thailand. Then in 1979, I moved to Utah - wait....what? Long story. By the time I could afford to come back home, my kids grew roots here and I'm not about to leave my grandkids behind - so I guess moving back "home" to Colorado is not going to happen. My last reason for visiting Colorado regularly was to spend time with my sweet father who finally passed 4/12/2018 Charles Phelps. Both of my parents sacrificed quite a bit in order for us to move to Littleton. You see, we lived in Commerce City when I started school at Rose Hill Elementary - because that's all they thought they could afford. But when they figured out that if they both worked full time and part time jobs, they could increase their buying power. They researched and determined that Arapahoe County had some of the finest educational opportunities for kids in Colorado. So they both started working a full time job and a part time job - which meant we didn't have parents home most of the time. They had a house built near Isaac Newton Jr. High and we moved in before I started 4th grade. They continued to work multiple jobs throughout our school years, so that my sister and I could have a great education. We became latch-key kids. I've realized that I didn't focus as well as I could have (I think I have ADD), but graduated on time. Not graduating was not an option in our house. Many nights in between jobs, dad would sit at the kitchen table with me and my math homework to help me get better grades. Sometimes he wasn't as patient. He admitted to me a couple of years ago that my high school math was far beyond anything he'd ever done before, so it was a learning curve for him as well - but bless him for spending the time with me trying to wade through algebra, etc., Thankfully, I expressed my gratitude to him the last couple of years of his life for all of his sacrifices to help my sister and I get a great education and live in a wonderful neighborhood. Parents can benefit from atta boys too. Last year (2017) was my Senior year at Salt Lake Community College to earn a Criminal Justice Degree and during the last semester I called dad to tell him I was flying in to Denver so he could help me with my Quantitative Analysis class homework - that got a chuckle out of him. And ironically, I was officially a senior citizen in my Senior year in College. It feels weird to ask for the senior discount everywhere I go, but hey, a dollar here a quarter there is saving money. I've worn so many hats through the years that my job experience fills a full sheet of paper single spaced. There are many things I can be proud of at the end of the road: My successful kids, my career as a licensed and bonded Private Investigator and my Advocacy efforts that brought about Victim Reparations legislation to Utah along with a Victim's Bill of Rights in the late 80's. There's a picture on my living room wall with me standing just behind our Utah Governor when he signed the bill into law. I keep saying "I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up" because that still hasn't happened. Now I'm starting a new chapter, and haven't decided what direction It is going. Social Security and Pension checks aren't quite enough to maintain the lifestyle I've set up for myself. I'm drawn back into the Investigative field where I flourished for a little more than a decade in the 80’s and 90’s, when I was much younger. Because of that career 3 decades ago, I decided to get the formal education in order to increase my chances of finding some part time work in the field now - Heck, I even found out my High School B...Expand for more