My! It's been a while, eh?

Not to worry, I am here, keeping busier than ever it seems. Since the last you heard from me (unless I have seen you over the last few days) I have rejoined the health club and started back two or three times a week, and then fell by the wayside again. I'll get back there soon, but I have to get used to my new endeavor: I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT! Go figure, right? Why would I do such a thing? The answer is long and involved:
Once, about 33 years ago, I worked in the Physical Therapy Dept of Marionjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. I was fascinated by the work done there, by the patients as well as the therapists. But at that time all I really wanted out of life was having a little house and some kids. So I had some kids and we all lived happily (right, kids?) in the (too)little house. As the years went by my career path was determined by the necessities of each day and I found a certain level of success in sales and sales management. It provided enough to keep us in shoes and for me to get involved in my horse habit/hobby, which was something I have dreamed about since I was a little girl. That hobby and my sales/mgmt experience led me to the comfy little job I have now, as a tack shop manager, which I will say is very pleasant.
But thanks to that hobby, I just spent about 12 weeks in physical therapy. I had plenty of time at the pulleys, hand treadmill, and various other activities there to observe and find my fascination again with the work of physical therapy and rehabilitation. One day, at therapy, as I was working at lifting my arm up above my head, I thought, 'I should do this.' There were no trumpets or heavenly choirs heralding this revelation, I just thought, 'I should do this.'
That thought sat down in the back of my mind, crossed its legs and waited. Then something terrible happened.
My best friend from high school and beyond; the one who actually helped me get that job at Marionjoy 33 years ago, died. Deb Zoller Fisher, only 52, died suddenly on July 4. I was told it was a blood clot - in her lung. She and I had so many wonderfully good times together over the years. Unfortunately we had lost touch with each other over the last few, but I thought of her constantly. Debbie and I were in each other's weddings. She then went on to marry two more times. She spent many years on her own, and through it all, she would take classes at U of I in Champaign/Urbana. One after another, she took classes, as they interested her, as she could afford them, while supporting herself and later on supporting her children as well. She lived in student housing, she lived simply, shopped resale, and worked co-op's to provide sustenance. I was always amazed at how she did it all, and never seemed to loose heart. Finally she said to me one day that she realized she had taken enough classes that she might as well get a degree. She then finished her Bachelor's, proceeded to get a Master's degree, and then one day exclaimed to me how incredible it was that there were people willing to pay her for all her knowledge and so why not get a Doctorate! She was just about finished with it when she was suddenly gone. I'm sad that I will never get another chance to see her in my lifetime. But I am even sadder that she was not able to realize that accomplishment. I was so proud of her.
And so, I thought that if she could put every effort she could into her education, even in times when she didn't know where it would lead her, that I could give it a try now too. I submitted my application to College of DuPage, got accepted, took the placement tests - which, I want you to know placed me into HONORS ENGLISH - and registered for classes. COD has a Physical Therapy Assistant program that I plan to try for, and that is my goal as of now. Who knows where this will lead, but I enrolled in one class to start with: Biomedical Terminology. I did actually register for a speech class too, but decided one class was enough to test the waters for this semester, and so I dropped Speech. The class has met twice so far. Tomorrow is my first quiz. I've been a studying fool - something I never was, EVER before! I spend about 2 hours each day working on exercises and flash cards and trying to memorize hundreds of words, combining forms, prefixes and suffixes. All I can say is "Hang on to your epithelial cells!" I hope it all goes well. I'll try to keep you posted...