I came to OS in October 2009, mainly because my friendly ex-husband saw Julie and Julia and mentioned Salon.com.  I decided the “Open” aspect of OS was exactly what I was looking for, because I wanted to share my experiences with turning 65 right in the middle of losing my nest egg.  I wanted to vent and to warn others about the hell I experienced trying to work with Wachovia Mortgage to get my loan restructured in order to stay in my home. 

Well, I had to leave the home, but I was one of the few in my area who was successful in getting the bank to accept a short sale.  It took 18 months of daily calls, false promises, lost documents, and run-arounds the likes of which I hope never to see again.  When I closed the short sale, I was left zero proceeds.  I rented a townhouse from a friend/neighbor located directly across the street from my ex-house, and proceeded to find the road to healing.

Blogging has become so much more than sharing and venting over these three years.  As you will see, I slowly moved from mortgage and recession woes to telling the story of my life.  I covered the good, the bad and the ugly.  Once I ran out of memoir material, I morphed into politics, race relations, current events and literally anything that strikes my fancy.

I have chosen 10 of the posts I view with pride.  Two of my selections are actually series; the story was too long to cover in just one post. 

1 The Surprising History of My Hometown

My mother’s family moved to my hometown in the late 1800s.  They played a strangely historical part in the town’s development,

2. Real Families: Fireworks

Alcoholism has been a huge part of my life, but it has never been my own.  Family life never dull and never totally comfortable.

3. Zebras Can’t Blend In

A rare foray into the scary world of poetry explains what it felt/feels like to be a mixed-race person.

4. Series: Tripping to Tougaloo -- Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4

1964 was a hot time in the Civil Rights Movement.  This is the harrowing tale of my trip to Jackson, Mississippi with a carload of white students and our professor, from Ripon, Wisconsin

5. Series: A Funeral for the Ages – Parts 1, 2, and 3

My first husband was a piece of work.  When he died at the early age of 50, he left a legacy behind that is the stuff stand-up comedy is made of.

6. Lord of the Flies, Holden Caulfield and The Wire

Here I tried to compare and contrast the important elements of three wildly divergent works of art.

7. The Faux Faux Pas

It has been rare, but sometimes I try my hand at fiction.  This is better described as current-event-fiction.  I stow away in a prominent couples bedroom

8. Why I Ended My Career Early

I retired from my Fortune 100 public relations career at age 55 in 2000.  This piece explains how I reached that decision. My tongue was tucked firmly in my cheek.

9. A Hurst Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, not just for the feast – I learned to dread that part when it became my turn to create the spread – but for the togetherness.  This particular year stood out.

10. Who or What are Infidels?

I wrote this during the New York City Mosque controversy.  I tend to never take anyone’s word for much of anything.  I like to see for myself.