Am I still a daughter after my parents have died? I am mulling this issue of identity with the new relationship, a granddaughter born to my only child. He is now a father, and I am still his mother, but that role has moved into the shadows while this new history is formed. I can remember the wonder of him, the shock of understanding my life no longer mattered more, the intensity of love I had never experienced.
Read MoreShe’s gorgeous and the best moment was my beloved son saying, “Mom, you can watch a YouTube video on how to hold a baby.” I, being a perfect mother did not respond with sarcasm or guilt inducing lists of all the labor (sic) involved giving birth to him (seventy-two hours of back labor). I smiled and said, “Thank you darling, maybe I will.” They are new parents with their Ming vase. My role is a wonderful mystery. How to be a grandmother is a manual I could use. I love her from a place I have yet to understand.
Read MoreIn 1980, the country was in a recession, and a recent graduate with a history degree and no practical skills, like typing, was not a viable candidate for most jobs. Until the consent decree that opened up higher-paying outside jobs to women, the Bell system largely employed women as operators at a much lower pay scale. I was hired to be trained as a telephone installer, then placed as a manager in an installation garage. After I graduated from pole climbing, I was told to report to work the following day. I would meet my gang of employees and start my job as a Resident Installation Foreman for New Jersey Bell Telephone.
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