Just turning 60 and feeling pretty good much of the time. I spent the entire past decade trying to re-invent myself professionally. Like most lawyers, I did not enjoy my work. Since my sons were grown and I married a man with some money, I had the freedom to try out alternatives. Nothing worked. My older son was diagnosed with schizophrenia--a truly horrible fate for him, and for me too--and I learned about Social Security Disability. I volunteered for two years for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, but quit in frustration because of the amateur quality of volunteer work. Finally I decided to set up a limited practice, doing Social Security claims for the disabled. I got an office set up along the back wall of my cabin in Willow, Alaska (Home of the Iditarod), signed up some clients, and... broke my leg while out walking the dog! So now I am recovering in Sacramento where we have a little old house in the suburbs which has the one advantage of being flat. I will increase my client base as soon as I can negotiate a steep, icy hill again. I really love the Alaskan wilderness. Sacramento is lovely with a million flowering trees, but the traffic is insane and the people are not brilliant (except for Arnold).
