My dear mother, when she was young

     It is the year 2025, and in May, I will be seventy-four. It is hard to believe because I certainly don’t feel that old, but I am going to be that old. This fact makes me reflect on my parent when they were that age. My father died from lung cancer in 1986, and my mother died from congestive heart failure one year later. My mother was born in 1910 and my father was born in 1911. They were married in 1929. They lived in Philadelphia for a time and ultimately purchased a home my father helped build in Maple Shade, New Jersey.

     They had eight children in all. Unfortunately, a set of male twins that were born after my twin sister and I were born did not survive as they were born prematurely. They were buried in a cemetery in Moorestown, New Jersey.

CHILDHOOD HOME

     My oldest sibling, Harry, was twenty years older than I, and my oldest sister, Jeanie, was nineteen years older. My sister, Eillen, is eight years older than I am, and my sister Liz is seven years older than I am. My eldest sister, Jeanie, passed away when she was forty-one. She developed Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency ( a genetic disorder), causing emphysema. No one else in our family developed this disorder aside from her.

     My sister, Jeanette, was one of the kindest, funniest, and most beautiful people I ever knew. My brother, Hugh Carberry, was twenty years older than I. He passed away five years ago when he was eighty-five. He was a practicing psychologist who spent his life helping people. He was an outstanding father and husband.

THIS IS MY STUDENT ID WHEN I ATTENDED TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AT THE TYLER SCHOOL OF ART. I WAS 36.

My next oldest sister is Eileen, who is eight years older than my twin, Karen, and me. She is one of the kindest and hardest-working people I’ve ever known. My sister Elizabeth is seven years older than my twin and me. She was a practicing nurse in her working years. She dedicated her life to helping people when they were ill. And then there was me, and my fraternal twin, Karen. Karen had a highly successful career during her working life. She was a district manager for Subaru for many years.

     My employment years were diversified. Over my forty-year career, I worked in many areas, starting with being a dental assistant right out of high school for six years. Then, I worked as a psychiatric aide in Ancora State Mental Hospital for a little over one year. I then worked at Ellis Insurance Company, selling high-risk insurance in Haddon Township, NJ.

     At that point, I met my now-husband, who was a cousin of my best girlfriend. I ended up moving to Florida to be with him, and shortly thereafter, we were married. That, my friends, was fifty years ago. My husband Bob and I moved to California because Bob wanted to attend Brooks Institute for Photography, which is his main interest.

     After Bob graduated from Brooks Institute for Photography, we returned to New Jersey and stayed with my parents for about a year. And then we purchased a house in Pennsauken, NJ, where we lived for fourteen years.

     We had two children, daughters three years apart. When Jeanette turned seven, and Bridget was four I applied to and I was accepted with a scholarship for the first year at Temple University after they inspected my art portfolio. I graduated four years later with a 4.0 average with Magnum cum Laude (great with honors) and Art teaching credentials. I sent my resume to all the public and private schools in the South Jersey area. Only to be informed that the public and private schools were no longer teaching art to save money. I spent months looking for a position teaching art to no avail.

OUR HOME AND MY ART SCHOOL IN PITMAN, nj WE LIVED THERE FOR 24 YEARS.

     And that was when I decided to look for a bigger home to accommodate our family and have room to teach art. I eventually found a home in Pitman, NJ, which had been empty for almost eight years. It was 5,000 square feet. Within that area were three rooms and a bathroom where I could teach art. So, we sold our house in Pennsauken and moved into the Pitman home, which needed much work, not to mention a new roof and heating and air conditioning units.   Somehow, we succeeded in my endeavor, bought the house, and had a new room put on it.      Over the twenty-four years, we have renovated the house and the yard, front and back. I opened my school and taught art to children after school and adults in the evening, for many years. In this way, I met and befriended many people who lived in Pitman. And we lived there for twenty-four years. Until we reached retirement age,

     it was hard to leave our home, and all the friends we had made over the many years we lived there. But, we couldn’t afford the high taxes we had to pay every year once we retired. It was a difficult decision; our kids had grown up there and had friends. We had many friends, but it was hard. But life can be difficult sometimes, and you must roll with the punches and move forward. After much thought and research, we sold our beautiful home in Pitman, NJ, and all our friends. And retired to North Carolina, a less expensive area to live in during our retirement.

     And here we are, almost nine years later, living in North Carolina. I have been volunteering at an animal sanctuary for the past nine years. And I began writing short stories and memoirs. I don’t know what will happen in the coming years. But, I will keep on keeping on as my generation has always said. So, I keep putting one foot in front of the other, and never giving up. Life is what you make of it.

     It is the year 2025, and in May, I will be seventy-four. It is hard to believe because I certainly don’t feel that old, but nonetheless, I am going to be that old. This fact makes me reflect on my parents when they were that age. My father died from lung cancer in 1986, and my mother died from congestive heart failure one year later. My mother was born in 1910 and my father was born in 1911. They were married in 1929. They lived in Philadelphia for a time and ultimately created a home my father helped build in Maple Shade, New Jersey.

     They had eight children in all. Unfortunately, a set of male siblings (twins) was born after my twin sister and I were born. They did not survive as they were born prematurely. They were buried in a cemetery in Moorestown, New Jersey. My oldest sibling, Harry, was twenty years older than I, and my oldest sister, Jeanie, was nineteen years older. And then my sister, Eileen is eight years older than I, and my sister Liz is severn years older than I am. My eldest sister, Jeanie, passed away when she was forty-one. She developed Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency ( a genetic disorder), causing emphysema. No one else in our family developed this disorder aside from her. My sister, Jeanette, was one of the kindest, funniest people I ever knew, and so beautiful. My brother, Hugh Carberry, was twenty years older than I; he passed away five years ago when he was eighty-five. He was a practicing psychologist who spent his life helping people. He was an outstanding father and husband.

     My next oldest sister is Eileen, who is eight years older than my twin, Karen, and me. She is one of the kindest and hardest-working people I’ve ever known. My sister Elizabeth, is seven years older that My twin and I she was a practicing nurse in her working years. She dedicated her life to helping people when they were ill. And then there was me, and my fraternal twin, Karen. Karen had a highly successful career during her working life. She was a district manager for Subaru.

     My employment years were diversified. Over my forty-year career, I worked in many areas, starting with being a dental assistant right out of high school for six years. Then, I worked as a psychiatric aide in Ancora State Mental Hospital for a little over one year. I then worked at Ellis Insurance Company, selling high-risk insurance in Haddon Township, NJ.

     At that point, I met my now-husband, who was a cousin of my best girlfriend. I ended up moving to Florida to be with him, and shortly thereafter, we were married. That, my friends, was fifty years ago. My husband Bob and I moved to California because Bob wanted to attend Brooks Institute for Photography, which is his main interest.

     After Bob graduated from Brooks, we moved back to New Jersey. We stayed with my parents for about a year, then purchased a house in Pennsauken, NJ, where we lived for fourteen years. We had two children, girls, three years apart. When Jeanette turned seven, and Bridget was four I applied to and I was accepted with a scholarship for the first year at Temple University after they inspected my art portfolio. I graduated four years later with a 4.0 average with Magnum cum Laude (great with honors) and Art teaching credentials. I sent my resume to all the public and private schools in the South Jersey area. Only to be informed that the public and private schools were no longer teaching art to save money. I spent months looking for a position teaching art to no avail.

     And that was when I decided to look for a bigger home that would accommodate our family and have room to teach art. I eventually found a home in Pitman, NJ, which had been empty for almost eight years. It was 5,000 square feet. Within that area were three rooms and a bathroom where I could teach art. So, we sold our house in Pennsauken and moved into the Pitman home, which needed much work, not to mention a new roof and heating and air conditioning units. Somehow, we managed to succeed in our endeavor, bought the house, and had a new room put on it. Over the twenty-four years, we have renovated the house and the yard, front and back.
I opened my school and taught art to children after school and adults in the evening, for many years. In this way, I met and befriended many people who lived in Pitman, and we lived there for twenty-four years until we reached retirement age.

     It was hard to leave our home, and all the friends we had made over the many years we lived there. However, we couldn’t afford the high taxes in New Jersey that we had to pay every year once we retired. It was a difficult decision; our kids had grown up there and had friends. We had many friends, but it was hard. But life can be difficult sometimes, and you must roll with the punches and move forward. After much thought and research, we sold our beautiful home in Pitman, NJ, and all our friends. And retired to North Carolina, a less expensive area to live in during our retirement.

     And here we are, almost nine years later, living in North Carolina. I have been volunteering at an animal sanctuary for the past nine years. And I began writing short stories and memoirs. I don’t know what will happen in the coming years. But, I will keep on keeping on as my generation has always said. So, I keep putting one foot in front of the other, and never giving up. Life is what you make of it. I try to keep a positive mindset at all times. I continue to try to be kind to all the people I meet along my way. Keeping in mind that life is short and I shouldn’t waste time trying to change things I can not change. And I continue to treat all the people I meet along the way, in the same way that I wish to be treated, with kindness and consideration.