Hi, I’m Becky
“So,” you ask, “tell me a little bit about yourself…”
I was first asked this question in a college scholarship interview. It caused me to pause. What should I tell you? How much do you really want to know about me? Where should I begin?
At that time, I had only completed 17 trips around the sun. I didn’t think I had much to talk about.
Let’s start with this –
I’m Rebecca (Becky) Kojetin.
Shall we start at the beginning?
How about just a few of the basics?
I entered this world in March 1958; so, therefore, I am considered a baby boomer. Rockford, Illinois, where I was born, lies 90 miles west of Chicago and 20 miles south of the Wisconsin border. I graduated from high school in 1976 and from college in 1980. In the years after college, I secured my first, second, and third teaching jobs. During my second teaching job, I got engaged. That summer, I got married. Between that hot day in June 1983 and today, I raised two sons, got divorced, and got married a second time in 1999. In 2015, Hubby and I left Rockford and moved to Southern Middle Tennessee.
On February 6, 2022, I was catapulted into a new and challenging chapter of my life when my husband of 22 years passed away. This chapter has found me wondering who I actually am. That day, at the age of 63, although I had always been an extremely independent woman, I was thrust into truly living on my own for the first time in my life. Dealing with his death and learning how to embrace living on my own made 2022 one of my most challenging years.
Chapter 65 of my life begins in March 2023.
As an adult, my journey through life has been, and still is, complex. I’m working on becoming the best version of myself by
- focusing on my well-being,
- continually working to make my house a home,
- attending to life-long learning and personal development,
- tending and nurturing my relationships,
- meeting new people,
- exploring the world around me,
- and giving myself time and space for creative pursuits.
But, Age is only a number.
Someone once told me that you are only as old as you feel. If that’s so; then today, I think, I feel ___.
(Fill in the blank because it changes every day.)
In reality, I’ve completed almost 65 trips around the sun. Social Security and Medicare have been relentless over the past five years to make me aware that this milestone has been approaching.
I rarely count the years. In fact, ever since I hit the 21-age marker, I’ve usually had to stop and use mathematics to figure out how old I was.
I am a Jill of All Trades with a kaleidoscopic interest bank – a multi-faceted creative
Now that truly is a mouthful.
At an early age, I was introduced to my father’s and grandfather’s workshops learning about tools and wood and making things. I started early learning about lawn care and gardening working beside them in the yard. I garnered a passion for cooking, baking, and crafts from my mother, my grandmother, and my aunts. I was encouraged to get out on my bike and explore my neighborhood, and as far back as I can remember travel was in my blood. Getting involved with 4-H allowed me to explore even more things that might interest me.
Because of all this, I have come to consider myself a “Jill of all trades” with a kaleidoscopic interest bank – a multi-faceted creative.
Being a multi-faceted creative with an ever-expanding variety of interests benefited me as a high school theater teacher, producer, and director. It has helped me with projects around my home. It has helped me in traveling. It wards off boredom.
I allow myself to meet new people and make new friends who broaden my abilities and interests. Travel also gives me numerous opportunities to broaden my world and my interests.
Here’s a short list of some of my active interests
Hobbies / Crafts
- assemblage art
- repurposed item art
- baking
- sewing
- photography
Creative Interests
- writing
- playing violin
- playing piano
Activities
- walking and hiking
- kayaking
- camping
- travel
- swimming
- snorkeling / SCUBA diving
Odd Facts About My Childhood (Just because they have shaped who I am.)
I was that child who
- pretended that little buses would come down the street to take the migrating birds south so they wouldn’t get exhausted. (I was maybe 4 years old.)
- caught fireflies on warm summer nights. (Doesn’t everybody?)
- wore saddle shoes. (The bane of my childhood.)
- watched Dark Shadows on a black and white television with my mother every afternoon with the front curtains drawn. (A show well before its time, but comical today.)
- wore a dress to school even when I wanted to wear jeans. (Compliments of my mother’s philosophy: “If you look good, you’ll feel good.)
- learned to twirl a baton at one of the park district summer programs. (I wasn’t very good at it.)
- attended Saturday Choir School as well as summer camp through the church. (This took up at least ten years of my young life.)
- walked to school even on the coldest of days during Northern Illinois winters and even all four years of high school. (Nine blocks in elementary school, but seven in high school.)
- played with friends at a nearby park district park without parents hovering in the near distance. (My curfew was the streetlight.)
- rode my bike anywhere — everywhere — until the streetlights came on as long as I wore my personal ID bracelet. (And there were no cell phones to track me or call home.)
If you want to know more . . .
- Subscribe to “Conversation and Coffee” – a place where I delve deeper in my conversations about life and living
- Meander through the site
- Read some of my favorite articles: (links coming soon)
Before you go . . .
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If you would like to comment, but not comment publicly, feel free to email me at rebecca@rebeccakojetin.com.
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