Homemaking was my first job. I cleaned apartments and houses, washed and dried laundry, sat and chatted with elderly men and women. I remember I was hanging out a sheet on the line, and it actually got away from me! I ran after it like I was pursuing a pet. I worked at the polls, but had a hard time knowing who to vote for in local and national elections. Finally I just decided to abstain. Better be safe than sorry. I typed in a hospital and offices, and got a cleaning job at an ice cream farm. I talked to the chicks and roosters as they came strutting around looking for crumbs from food. One bird swooping down on the table almost landed on my head! I got a babysitting job for four years, and sang a lullaby that I had made up for my nephew, called "Go to Sleep, My Baby."

"Go to sleep my baby,
Go to sleep pretty one.
Go to sleep my darling,
Until you greet the sun.

Go to sleep my baby,
Go to sleep my love
And while you're sleeping,
The stars will glow above.

Go to sleep my angel,
Close your eyes
And while you're sleeping,
The moon will arise."

(refrain)

Once when I was cleaning at the local YMCA, I knelt at the Jacuzzi to clean it. I prayed in thanks that I had gotten the job, and also prayed that I didn't fall into the Jacuzzi! I was a substitute teacher, and a back-up for cleaning jobs. One office job I worked per diem. I dashed around looking for volunteer work, and read into the tape recorder at the association for the blind, so they could listen to newspaper articles that I had taped. I greeted people who had come to pay their taxes, taking information and copying their whole life story, practically. I volunteered at the hospitals in my city, and once I was wearing new shoes and I fell almost on my face on the highly polished, waxed floors. I worked at a clothing store taking inventory, and it was the store's last night of operation. That made me feel kind of sad - it had been there for years, since I was a child. When I worked at one of the hospitals as a receptionist, I started singing and a man came down the corridor, looking all around, up and down, and then he said to me when I was in mid-song, "Oh, that was you!" I said, "I'm sorry," thinking I had bothered him, but he said "Oh no, I just thought there was a radio around." Mop, sweep, sing, clean, type, organize files, all these have meant a lot to me. Especially working with children. I volunteered for three years in the grade schools, and a I wrote a poem called "Sunbeam" for one of the little boys in my class named Jason. I also volunteer at a theater in my city, and I have seen many actors and actresses who have studied in New York and England. I have seen comedies, tragedies, romances, mysteries. I pride myself on all the work I've done, both paid and volunteer. Currently I volunteer at a club for the recovering mentally ill, and I type, sign people in and out (or make sure that they do), and I also clean bathrooms, copy, shred, and fax. I think that work helps you feel confident and raises your self-esteem. I cleaned people's private apartments, in the community and also in my building. They were very appreciative. I had a newspaper route for about six months, delivering newspapers in my apartment complex. I was welcomed into some people's homes, and one gentleman wrote to the paper: "Customer very satisfied." I was given food and water by some customers, it was in the very hot days of June, July, August, and September that I had this newspaper route. I also volunteered down on the boulevard by the river, picking up bottles and cans. Working keeps your mind off your problems, and it raises your confidence and self-esteem. I think that I want to Work, work, work, until the age of 90! I'm 63 now, and I feel like I can keep going.