Fern Shoemaker:  

o knew that kind of true love could happen between two strangers, a woman and a child? If I won $100 million, I'd give a lot of it to fund research into mental and emotional disorders in children, then spend the rest on a cozy home, a housekeeper and a cook!. My current age is 52. When I was 12, I thought that people my age now would be so smart and know everything. I was so completely oblivious to the hugeness of life and how much there is to know and understand. I hardly feel like I've even gotten started. I share my home with my best friend, her father and her 9 m granddaughter, which I find to be the best life - a totally unique combination of people, each with their own input and talents - in spite of the occasional grumps, we usually find a way to work things out and get along. No trophies, but I did play the winning serves in a mud volleyball tournament a few years ago. (My serve sounds like a sonic boom and scares people). Great gobs of goo and great fun. And we won! If I got one do-over, I would have gotten more deeply involved in music much earlier in life. If you don't take your talents seriously, you aren't only robbing yourself of the joy of expressing them, but of course, you are depriving others of the chance to enjoy them. I'm trying to make up for lost time with my singing, and I bought a harp (dusty and un-played but loved anyway), and I play in a bell choir. I'd like to form a medieval music group...someday. In 10 years, I hope to be working where I am in the veterans benefits administration. I'm going to get there by moving up the ladder and learning everything I can. My first job was at a car dealership, where I got paid 3.20/hour to type rental leases. What I remember most about it is typing on carbon forms - awful. Hooray for computers! Oh, and how my boss thought I should be deliriously excited about a 5 cent raise (which was only because of minimum wage). Of course gas only cost 23 cents a gallon, but I drove a moped, so, whatEver!