Tag: throwback

So I humiliated myself big time yesterday and to make myself laugh, I’m throwing back to the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me.

Background: I grew up in Wapakoneta, Ohio which is most famous as being the hometown of Neil Armstrong. It’s a small town and my family and the Armstrong family were friends – my Dad and Neil were really good friends in their youth. The Armstrongs and my family went to the same church – which the remaining player in my story attended as well. Her name was Doris Weber – and she was in the same high school class as Neil.

So now we throw back to it being time for Doris and Neil’s 30 year class reunion. Doris was in charge of the reunion and had a reputation around town for putting on little “shows.” And as her actors/singers/dancers, she often recruited members of the Sunday school class she taught. That’s where I come in along with my friend Jenny. Jenny and I were about 14 at the time – which most women will tell you when they look back was a horrible age. Well, Doris decided that the theme of the “show” at the reunion would be a Hawaiian luau and that Jenny & I would be singing through it. The highlight of the show being when we went over to Neil, sat on his lap and sang “Fly Me to the Moon.” It’s been a lifetime since that night, but I still blush when I think about it. It was just horrible singing that particular song to a man I had known and idolized my whole life. The saving grace? He was as embarrassed as Jenny and I were. He never spoke of it again any time I saw him until his death – thankfully.

Jenny and I laugh about it today. But that is the MOST embarrassing thing that I’ve ever done!

I’ve been daydreaming about what my life might have been like if I had chosen a different career path. Not that I have regrets about the path I took – except maybe that Walgreens laid me off! I’ve had a really great career so far. I’ve had a lot of fun, made some great friends and learned a lot so I can’t ask for a lot more.

But when I was in high school, I wanted to be a physical therapist. I was a candy stripe volunteer at the hospital where my Dad worked and I worked transport for the PT department. I got to see a lot of great work between taking patients to/from their rooms and I really wanted to make that kind of difference in patient outcomes. But then life happened and the college I wanted to go to became out of the question. So I started college at the Ohio State University branch campus, wrote a term paper for my English class on advertising and I was hooked on that!

Once I got to NYC and was working on Madison Avenue, one of my friends transferred out of media planning/buying and went into the TV production department. I remember being jealous at the time – it looked like so much fun! But I couldn’t afford the pay cut to make that move so I stayed in media. Choices right?

Media led to Field Marketing with Wendy’s, my move to Chicago and then my move to the client side. I have loved (almost) every minute of it! I’ve always said I never really had a career plan – but the right people and opportunities have always presented themselves when I needed them. I’m hoping my next new opportunity comes along soon!

What did you want to be and where did you end up? Tell YOUR story in the comments!