Wednesday, March 12, 2014

March 12 - Working Outside the Home

Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.
March 12 — Working girl: Did your mother or grandmother work outside the home? What did she do? Describe her occupation.

For the first 22 years of her married life, my mother was a stay-at-home mom. My parents were married in 1939. Three daughters were born between 1942 and 1945. My father made a living as a machinist in a factory and was a musician on the weekends which brought in extra money that was used for our yearly vacations. My brother was born in 1956 when I was 14 years old. He had four mothers! In the summer of 1961 my parents decided to move from Ohio to Prescott, Arizona.

This move meant that my dad was giving up a secure job and only a few short years until he earned his full pension right. The house was nearly paid off. They sold the house to my mother's sister and her family. They packed up the trailer, and looking like a gypsy caravan they started out on their new adventures.

Once in Arizona, dad found it difficult to find a job. Prescott, Arizona, even in the 1960's was considered a retirement community. There were no factories or major industries. He started teaching music and playing dinner music in restaurants. There were still two children at home.

In order to supplement the household income, mom found a job as a "nanny" or babysitter to her doctor's family of 5 children. She bonded well with that family and was with them for several years. She finally found a job working with the local public library. Because she loved books so dearly, this was the perfect job for her. She rarely worked the front desk preferring to be behind the scenes. She learned to repair book bindings and often traveled to the branch libraries to give instructional classes to other librarians. She truly loved what she did.

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