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Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Life Lessons Learned

By Mary Hertslet

On the registration form for my 50th high school reunion, in the year 2000, we were asked to finish the sentence, "If I had it to do over again, I would..." When completed, our answers were collected, compiled into a booklet and given to each of us.

I completed the sentence with, "I would not change anything." I was surprised to see that many others had completed the sentence in the same way. They seemed to be happy with the life they had, as was I.

Also, I added a bit of advice I had already given to some of the younger generation which was my own mantra for life: "Take advantage of your opportunities, follow your passions and never stop learning." A caveat to this, of course, is that you have to prepare yourself first so that when that opportunity does come along, you will be in a position to accept it.

Together, working as a team through hard times, hard work and with perseverance, my husband, Hersh, and I were able to start reaching some of our goals in life by taking advantage of opportunities that came to us.

Sometimes, when I felt downhearted, he would say things like, "Don't worry, we have our whole lives ahead of us” or "The world is our oyster.” I believed it, too.

After three years in the Marine Corps during WWII (two years in China), Hersh completed college and received his masters in geography. Meanwhile, I brushed up on my office skills, preparing ourselves for opportunities we might have of a career that would take us traveling.

Travel was our passion. When he saw a magazine in the college library, listing positions for teachers in foreign countries, he immediately sent out applications.

In 1955, Hersh and I flew across the South Pacific to the island of Guam where he was under contract as a high school geography and history teacher and I was a secretary at the school. This was the beginning of a six-year adventurous life during which time we traveled the world.

At the end of each two-year contract, we had a three-month R&R that we used for travel. This was a time before jets flew across the South Pacific, before air-conditioning, computers, etc. It was also before many people had traveled throughout Southeast Asia or explored the islands of the South Pacific as we did with our five-month-old son, Steve.

We made a trip around the world later when Steve was two years old. Not much had been written about exotic places like Egypt and India. Nepal had just opened their borders. We were some of the first outsiders to enter their country.

Traveling through the world in the 1950s was difficult and rigorous, especially with a small child. Hersh was a consummate geographer wanting to see countries and islands of the world from the viewpoint of the people and their lands and not just as a tourist. It was also the most educational six years we would spend.

We lived in a pre-globalization era. We traveled during a time when the past was colliding with the future. It was an opportunity we had then that no longer exists.

Meanwhile, island life on Guam for six years was enjoyable. Living in a Quonset hut in a small village without telephone, TV, etc. was a culture shock to say the least. However, we adjusted quickly and loved every minute of our life there.

After six years abroad, we returned to the States in 1961, and resumed a more normal life with our son who, by then, was five years old and ready to start school.

Hersh returned to college at Rutgers University where he acquired another degree that enabled him to change his career. Afterward, we moved to the Washington, D.C. area where he began working for the Department of Defense.

Had we not taken the opportunity that was given us early in our lives, we would have missed this great six-year adventure completely. In 1976, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. After 24 years of marriage we spent the next 33 years living with this insidious disease. He died in 2009.

Now, as I look back to a time long ago when we took advantage of an opportunity, I can remember our great adventures during those years when there was a time for us and the world was our oyster.

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[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. PLEASE read instructions for submitting.]

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