Short and Sweet

I erupted into the world with a scream so long and so loud and so high that the obstetrician said, “Here’s your little opera singer!” as he quickly handed me to my mother.

After a decade’s worth of voice lessons that began at age thirteen, I proved him right by being accepted into the chorus of a renown New York City opera company. But rather than being the dream job I imagined, it was, instead, a nightmare. In no time, I left it and returned to my hometown, where I fell into teaching, a profession I have loved with all my heart ever since.

It keeps me young, fills me with joy and laughter every day and makes it clear as a flawless diamond that I will never-but-never voluntarily retire from this gig. That would be the equivalent of retiring from eating ice cream, and who’d ever choose that!