--complicated. Before son #1 was born I was working at an insurance company. Hated it. But maybe if I had stuck with it, I would have had opportunities. Who knows? But, being a woman I had the option to do the full-time mommy thing, and so I quit my job.
Then, just before son #2 was born I was diagnosed with cancer. Major surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, more radiation, more chemotherapy . . . A solid year. My priorities became set in stone during that year. And, my boys became my priorities. I was class mom, chaperoned field trips, planned class parties, listened to reading groups. Later I went to soccer games, track meets, cross country meets. Hosted many, many D & D games (yes, there is a serious geek-streak that runs through my--and my husband's--genes.) We pretty much never knew how many would be at our house for dinner.
At this point, let me explain that I had that option because my dh is an accountant. I understand that most women these days don't have the choice of doing what I did, even if they wanted to.
When son #2 was about to graduate from high school, I got a (very) part-time secretarial job. It was great! It was a Christian charity, and there were only two of us in the office. The Executive Director and I were very similar people--both English majors, actually. She recognized early on that I have kind of a gift for writing, so she let me handle most of the correspondence. It was just fun. All the time. But, after a couple of years, she retired and I decided it was time to move on.
I worked retail for a short time. Again, minimum wage. But I enjoyed it. I always saw it as a challenge to make a sale, or to sign a customer up for a store credit card. And I loooooooved my employee discount.
After a little while there, I took a full-time job as a bank teller. The money was terrible, but we had a great staff, and I enjoyed it at first. I took on the task of doing the bank's employee newsletter. That was fun too, for awhile.
Meanwhile, my heart started to go toes-up, as a result of the radiation I had so many years ago. I found that I could drag myself to work every day, but was pretty much useless by the time 5:00 rolled around. I was coming home, changing into pajamas, eating some defrosted thing, and trying to stay up til 9:00.
I realized I didn't have a life worth living anymore, so in January I gave notice. I now spend my time knitting, I'm on the board of our local humane society, I cook real meals, I read. Those are the thing that make me a real person, instead of a mindless drone, and mean way much more to me than money.
In a lot of ways, what I did for my sons has paid off. A year ago over 4th of July, my son and his friends were in town. (They are now all about 30.) One showed up just before dinner, then another, and in the end I managed an impromptu dinner for something like 14 people! It was just like old times.
Looking back, I probably should have majored in some kind of a writing field, rather than literature. And knowing that I would spend 30+ years as a cancer survivor, I might have made different decision when my kids were young. But I've lived half my life as if I were on borrowed time. I wouldn't recommend it . . .
As for you, you seem to have a gift for writing. Have you considered journalism as a field? Not real lucrative, but it would be a fun and interesting career, and you would probably have a lot more opportunities than looking for a job in history.
Also, don't let your family get you down! You obviously have talent, and value, and you just need to find your niche. It's out there, so don't give up!!
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