I knew retirement wouldn\u2019t agree with me. I owned and operated a small business, a dance studio, in Lititz, for forty-four years. I made lasting relationships and looked forward each year to making new memories with the dancers and their families. During the pandemic, I searched for grants and applied for funds and forgivable loans to keep the doors open. The studio reopened and about a year later, grateful the business had survived, I knew it was time to sell. It wasn\u2019t only the letdown of not having a place to go every day, but the feeling I got from discovering new things and succeeding in keeping the doors open that I missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have rediscovered a spark in my life. I put myself in a learning environment in a new social circle of professors and other students in college classes, for the first time, at age 72. Why? Yes, everyone asks me why. Maybe I had this plan all along. In my life, one thing was missing. I\u2019ve always wanted to study English and take Liberal Art classes in college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve discovered old passions. I\u2019ve found new ones. I\u2019ve learned from a sociology professor with a PhD about how to look at life through those lenses-she talked about her own childhood living in poverty with little food and no medical insurance and how one high school teacher changed her life. I\u2019ve learned from a Fulbright Scholar, a research scientist and a professor with a Doctorate degree in Psychology to be a doubter. Nothing is 100% right. Nothing is 100% wrong. I\u2019ve learned that I can be a writer. That I am a writer. That journaling and creative writing will always be a part of my life because the English Professors with MBA\u2019s and MFA\u2019s have validated and inspired me. ME. Yes, I\u2019ll be 74 next month. This is the best thing I have ever done for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do I want to be? You are still asking why? I want to keep that spark alive for learning and meeting people and putting myself in new situations. I want to be my best self. I want to say I read all the books I wanted to and I took all the classes that interested me. I achieved a 3.85 GPA and am on the Dean\u2019s List at Harrisburg Area<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Community College. If that\u2019s not enough reasons why – I want my granddaughters to break barriers, take educational opportunities and tell my story to their grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda-Susan Brown<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I knew retirement wouldn\u2019t agree with me. I owned and operated a small business, a dance studio, in Lititz, for forty-four years. I made lasting relationships and looked forward each year to making new memories with the dancers and their families. During the pandemic, I searched for grants and applied for funds and forgivable loans … <\/p>\n