I have now reached the grand old age of seventy-four. Which I find hard to believe. Because I certainly don’t feel that old. I’ve reached a point where I realize I have most of my life’s years behind me, rather than ahead of me.

Do I have any regrets? No, not really. I didn’t make some mistakes along the way, but I did make some. But, for the most part, I feel that I have made every effort in my life to challenge myself to do the right thing; I never let my age predetermine what I could or could not do. For example, I went to college when I was thirty-six years old. I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college after high school. As my father informed me that I had to get a job and start taking care of myself, or at least pay rent to continue living in my childhood home. I stayed at my family’s home for the first year after I graduated from high school. And then I got a full-time job working as a dental assistant. I saved up enough money to pay my first month’s rent and buy food for myself.

I found a small apartment in Haddonfield, New Jersey, on the second floor of a building that had a knitting shop on the first floor. There was also another middle-aged tenant living in the apartment on the second floor. She would say “hello” every time she saw me. But nothing beyond that. Haddonfield is one of the most beautiful small towns in New Jersey. Even back then, the people who lived in Haddonfield had money and prestige.

I was quite familiar with Haddonfield. Since I attended St. Mary of the Angels Academy on Haddon Avenue IN Haddonfield. My twin sister and I both attended High School there. It was an all-girls school for college prep. Unfortunately, I put little effort into my school work; I have to admit it. My parents informed me that they didn’t have the money to send my sister and me to college. I had never really considered going to college. St. Mary of the Angels Principal found jobs for my twin sister and me, and so, once we graduated from High School, we immediately found jobs.

I applied for a dental assistant job with Dr. Edward G. Wozniak. I worked there for five years. It turned out that I was pretty capable of being a chairside assistant, in addition to developing dental X-rays. I also had to answer the phone and make an appointment for the patients. When the patients arrived, they waited in a small waiting area. I would then call them in and escort them to the room where the dentist performed procedures like tooth extractions, cavity fillings, and X-rays. I developed the xrays, made an appointment, took their payment, and made future appointments. I also had to answer the phone and talk to patients.

I had always been somewhat of a quiet and shy child, but as I grew up, I became more outgoing and open to talking to people of all ages, including children. It was my experience that men were the most apprehensive of all the patients to have dental work. I found I was pretty good at calming frightened patients, be they men, women, or children.

The only time I had a bad experience while I was working there was when I was assisting Dr. Wozniak and he was extracting all the teeth of an adult female patient. I had never seen him remove more than one tooth at a time. And I was somewhat overwhelmed by the experience, and I passed out. Dr. Wozniak had to carry me out of the room and put me on the couch in his living room until I recovered. The dental office was one section, and the rest of the residence was where Dr.Wozniak and his wife lived with their two little daughters, whom I had while I was working there. After I stopped working there, they went on to have a son.

I decided to quit working at the dentist’s office because it left me with very little time to spend with my friends, go down the shore with them in the Summer, or even find a boyfriend or date anyone. The Wozniaks were decent people, and I liked them, but working there left me no free time at all.

After I quit working at Dr. Wozniak’s, I got a job working at Ancora State Mental Hospital. I got that position through my brother, Hugh, who was a psychologist and had worked at Ancora at one time. I had to take a course in being a psychiatric aide. I requested to work with children who have experienced trauma. But, instead, I was placed in the active adults’ psyche ward.I didn’t last long there, and it was a bad experience for me. I only stayed at Ancora for less than a year. It was not a good experience for me.

After that, I worked for the Ellis Brothers in Haddon Township. They primarily sold high-risk auto insurance to people living in Camden who had trouble getting standard auto insurance. So, they came to the Ellis Brothers, who came from a wealthy family from Haddonfield, NJ.. And they were insured there. It was a fascinating job, as I met a diverse range of people in this role that I had never encountered in the dental office. Harry and Evi Ellis liked to go out during the workday and buy me and the other girls who worked there breakfast, and sometimes we went to the race track. They want to have fun; their names are Harry and Evie Ellis. I worked there for about two years.