[VivaLasViejas]

I've been a member of allnurses since September of 2002, but I'd "lurked" on and off for a couple of years before I worked up enough courage to register as a member and make my first post ever.

Now, over 10,000 of them later, I'm totally addicted (as if you couldn't tell ). I can't hold a candle to Don or Deb or Siri, but I'm pretty prolific in my own right, don't you think?

Many of you know part of my story, but for those who are interested, here is more:

I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl. My Nana was a nursing student during World War I when she met and married my grandfather; in those days, nurses had to be single women, so her career ended before it really began. But she never lost her love of the healing arts, and she instilled it in me from earliest childhood. I can still recall reciting the names of bones and the cranial nerves at her knee when I was nine years old.

She passed on when I was 13, and my dream of becoming a nurse faded as I advanced through high school. I had no aptitude for science, I stunk at math, and to be honest, I just didn't think I had the "smarts" to be an RN.
I went on to do a little bit of a lot of different things: managing apartments, writing for publication, working in factories, even telephone soliciting (I went home in tears after only four hours on that job).

Then, some twenty-odd years later, I was a mom on welfare; per state requirements, I took a battery of tests to help decide what sort of work I should look for. I thought I wanted to be a nurses' aide. My job counselor looked at my test results, then back at me, and sealed my future with these words: "Don't waste your potential being a nurses' aide and working for peanuts. Go to college. Be an RN. You can do it."

I drove straight to the local community college while I still had the courage, gave them my last $20 and signed up for placement testing...........and I guess you could say I never looked back. I graduated with an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing at the age of 38, and achieved my dream only a month later, passing the NCLEX with the minimum of 75 questions.

That's not to say it's been easy, and there are times I think of leaving the profession altogether. But I've never regretted my decision to become a nurse. I love making people "all better", even if only for a few moments. I've escaped poverty, given my family a decent standard of living. And of course, there's allnurses, where I can always come and share........and where I'm always learning something new.

In between all this, I've managed to stay married to the love of my life for twenty-six years; given birth to five and raised four wonderful children; become a grandmother of two (soon to be three!). I also enjoy pro football, working in my garden, cuddling with my dog and cats, reading, writing, computing, and being a moderator here at allnurses.

Yes, life is good; I am truly blessed.