Melissa Mitchell:
CLASS OF 1975
Stonewall Jackson High SchoolClass of 1975
Charleston, WV
West Virginia State CollegeClass of 1980
Institute, WV
Marshall UniversityClass of 1976
Huntington, WV
Melissa's Story
Life
Does anyone actually fill these things out? Does anyone else actually care?? OH, well. Just in case someone is interested ... After Stonewall I got a part-time job at Sears' warehouse until time to go to Marshall for a year. Came back the next spring to Sears and ended up training to be a service repair technician and eventually full-time "on the road." Right after high school I also auditioned for a local band and started singing with them around town and around the country, mostly at conventions and fairs. The group was called "The Bailey Singers" (I know, really catchy, but that was the name of the owner/manager.) and we were the house band at the King's Inn for a long time. I stayed with them for several years, worked at Sears and tried to take some more classes at WV State, but something had to give, and it ended up being school. Got married when I was 20 and divorced at 21. The only good things about that year were three great step-kids and I learned how to change a transmission in a school bus. Unfortunately he had also talked me into quitting Sears. After the divorce I started working for a beauty and barber supply on the West Side - Milo's - and shortly after that ended up as a manager at one of their stores in Columbia, South Carolina. Had a blast down there for three years and spent most of my spare time in a dark pool hall (in the back of a Chinese restaurant) sharpening up my pool skills. My father got lung cancer so I moved back to my parent's house to help out; took over my father's job (sales - YUK - I found out I am NO salesperson) and also back to Sears part-time in their repair shop. Stayed at Sears for 10 years and got married again. That one lasted about six years and I had two great step-kids. My parents both passed away during that time period. We had several Harley motorcycles and I became a motorcycle Mama. Great times at pig roasts and poker runs. After 10 years at Sears I got discouraged and wondered if Sears was the be-all and end-all of jobs, so I quit and went thru a number of jobs that just weren't for me (a couple of those were sales, too - I should have known better by then); end...Expand for more
ed up back at Sears for another five years out on the road again repairing heating, cooling and refrigeration. Who would have thought that I was so mechanically inclined?? Hmmm... So Sears was basically the main job I've had my entire working career. My third marriage lasted about 8 years until 2000. We sold a beautiful house in Clendenin (where he was from) and I bought a house in South Charleston. I replied to a classified ad in the paper one Sunday for an appliance/refrigeration technician, and, WHOA, ended up in Moscow, Russia. I'm working for a government contractor and having a fantastic time. It's a lot cheaper to travel from over here and I've been to Istanbul, Romania (twice), Estonia, Helsinki, Egypt (twice), Prague, Tunisia, the U.A.E., Greece, Cyprus, Beijing, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and a lot of places in Russia. I hope to never work in the States again and I'm looking for a place to buy to retire overseas. All my life I've wanted to see the world and thought that I'd have to wait until I retired to do it. (And hopefully have the money and the health to do it with.)After four years in Russia, I'm now working at the Consulate in Shanghai, China. What a fantastic city - supposedly four thousand skyscrapers compared to one thousand in NYC. Great food, cheap massages, pedicures and manicures. I was also fortunate enough to locate my birth mother about two years ago and travel to meet her and some other members of my family. I plan on staying here in Shanghai for two to three years; after that, who knows? Update - after two years in China headed back to work with my favorite Russians in Moscow. UPDATE. Three more great years in Moscow and now off to Bagdad as of February 2011. Wish me luck!!! Update - my two years in the sand pit of Iraq is almost over .... hmmmm where to next? Our company has a contract in Antarctica. Who knows. More places I've gotten to visit: Malta, Corfu, Santorini, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt again, Vienna, Canary Islands, Dubai a few times, Romania again, Italy, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Germany. Dropping my subscription here so zap me if you like at: wildnwonderful at hot mail.
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