When Paula Howard took her first solo flight, her instructor (on the ground) told her to follow the aircraft ahead of her to the runway. The other pilot, however, decided to take a wandering path to the airport while Paula tried to follow.
To make the situation even more tense, there was a 25-mph crosswind. Despite the diversion, she landed safely and got her license – much like the other adventures she has experienced.
Paula grew up in Cleveland, Ohio in a large family.
“There were 28 grandchildren and every one of us believed we were our grandparents’ favorite. They made each one of us feel special,” she says. “I remember being in eighth grade and I wanted to be either an airline stewardess or a nun because I always wanted to help people.”
In 12th grade, Paula heard about the Peace Corps, took the licensed practical nurse course, applied and was accepted into the Corps at age 20.
She soon found herself in Sucre, Bolivia, providing nursing care.
“I spent a year and a half there and it was a most exceptional experience,” she says.
Paula also met her first husband there. After several years in New Jersey and three children, they moved to Puerto Rico, where he had a new job.
“My sister was already living there and she was a graduate of the Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery Art. So, naturally, we went into the cake business,” she says. “We specialized in shaped cakes. The government came to us for a cake shaped like a slot machine. We made a shoe-shaped cake for a footwear company and an airplane cake for an airline.”
Then they were hit by a double whammy – a sugar shortage on the island and supermarkets opening in-store bakeries. But the timing was opportune.
“Our three children went to school in Puerto Rico and were bilingual, but then I noted that the schooling was deficient, and the children were being treated as outsiders,” Paula remembers, adding that the family moved to Mentor, Ohio until their children went off to college.
But that didn’t mean the adventures stopped. Paula met her second husband while obtaining her black belt in Minna Jiu Jitsu. He was her sparring partner while she was taking my tests.
At age 52, with the kids out of the house, Paula decided she wanted a motorcycle and ended up with an 1100 cc Yamaha Virago.
“The salesman said, ‘What’s the difference. Either way you’ve got to learn to ride it. Take the big bike,’” she recalls.
It was a steep learning curve. Paula fell on her first attempt during the motorcycle course. On her second attempt she missed by one question on the test.
“My motto has always been ‘Never give up. Just never give up,’” she says, recalling that the third attempt was successful.
“I loved riding it,” she says wistfully.
After 35 years in public relations and events, at age 60, Paula decided to go back to nursing school.
“It was a little hard to do, but I became a registered nurse when I was 61,” she says.
Paula and husband Ken were also getting restless.
“We wanted to get out of the cold weather in Cleveland. I was hired by Duke University Hospital as an orthopedic nurse and we moved to North Carolina,” she recalls. “We loved it there, but the winters were still too cold.”
Five years later, in 2015, they moved to the Village of Country Club Hills.
“Just in time to have two knee replacements,” she laughs. “My sister and son lived in Florida and we wanted a happy place where there would be something to do. Several people we know lived here, so it was an easy decision.”
But Paula soon realized that retirement wasn’t for her. She went back to nursing and started to write. She now has four books on Amazon. Two are metaphysical fiction – she has studied metaphysics for decades. Another is a workbook for saving memories and the most recent is an inspirational calendar.
In keeping with an active life, Paula became president of the Writers League of The Villages and is in the final year of her two-year term.
“I had joined a creative writing group and the leader, Millard Johnson, asked me to read his story and then asked if I would be president of the Writers League,” she says. “I thought, ‘This invitation has come to me and it’s probably a path opening, so I should take it.’”
Johnson had told her that it would not be a lot of work.
“He was incorrect in that,” she says wryly.
Always a spiritual person, Paula remembers making several conscious spiritual decisions.
“When I was five, I remember riding my bicycle and I stopped and said, ‘I want to be good,’” she says. “Another time was when I was a young mother living in Puerto Rico, I was in the kitchen and I felt an overwhelming need to kneel down and dedicate myself to doing good. I have always known that I love people and I want people to know how lovable they are.”
Though raised Roman Catholic, Paula doesn’t currently belong to an organized church.
“I’m a spiritual seeker,” she says. “I meditate and read spiritual books.”
She cites one book as having had a profound influence on her spirituality. “A Course in Miracles,” by Helen Schucman, was first published in 1976 and is considered a curriculum for those seeking spiritual transformation.
Although she never achieved her goal of being an airline stewardess or a nun, Paula has had turns as a cake maker, skydiver (one jump), entertainer, photographer, teacher and webmaster. Never one to sit back, she has recently joined with two other Villagers to form Hallard Press, a publishing group that edits, publishers and promotes books for authors.
“I think we can offer a wonderful product to many, many people,” she says.
Now, Paula can add book publisher to her long list of accomplishments.
John W Prince is a writer and Villager. For more information, visit www.GoMyStory.com. If you know of someone with a good story, contact John at John@GoMyStory.com.
