When I was growing up, I didn't want to be an astronaut or a veterinarian. I wanted to be a librarian. Even in elementary school, I would volunteer to work in the library so that I could stamp due dates and roll the book cart around. I loved-and still love-actual books on actual shelves. In high school, I used to drive to the downtown library to research topics like hats and millinery because I also fancied becoming a milliner. Seriously? I was such a nerd. When I went to college as an English major, I spent an inordinate amount of time in the stacks at the old library, studying and writing...and stalking my husband who was as smart as he was, and is, funny. Sadly, a counselor in college steered me away from library sciences. Maybe this was for the best since the romance of rolling ladders and card catalogs has been replaced by a technology I have yet to embrace.
Eventually I graduated as an English major. What to do? What to do? Who would pay me to spend most of my waking hours in a library reading books and writing about them? Well. No one. So I began a thirteen year stint as an English tutor at David Lipscomb Campus School, encouraging and teaching children who struggled with reading and writing. What a gift! By the time I left, I was the director of the program, no longer working directly with the children, no longer immersed in reading and writing. I knew it was time to move on but what to do, what to do? As evidenced by my brief dalliance with millinery, I was a crafty sort of girl. I had a booth at an antique mall for a while, selling refurbished thrift store finds. I had closed it when I became director, but desperately missed being creative. What to do? What to do? A weekend art class with friends, just for fun, or so I thought....
So now to the full circle moment. I haunted the stacks at Lipscomb University as a student. I molded young minds at David Lipscomb Campus School as a teacher. Now I'm coming back as an artist. I did not foresee this. As much as I love a good book, I could not have written this ending...or should I say new beginning?
If you like stories with twists and turns with a plucky heroine in a familar setting surrounded by a colorful cast of characters, come see me this weekend at the Art Event at Lipscomb, February 10-12. Opening night complete with food and music is Friday from 5-9. http://www.lipscomb.edu/advancement.dlcs/Filter/Item/762/6780
Hope to see you there!
little e
