Lois Scarlet Long is my mother and also one of my greatest heroes. She is 59 going on 40 and is the definition of a “strong, independent woman.” In spite of being in a conservative, “traditional” marriage, she has always been the breadwinner in our family and never the cook. During her time working for Questar Gas, she has worked her way from a secretary with an associate’s degree to a contract administrator where she rides on
ATVs to survey pipelines and squabbles with attorneys over payments and zoning.
During our interview, we discussed her work and some of her opinions about life. We have had some major changes in my family recently, with my marriage, my youngest brother coming out as gay, and my middle brother coming out as a Democrat …show more content…
Lois has worked her entire adult life, and currently makes almost three times what her husband makes. I asked her how she felt about this and she said, “Well, it is definitely not what I expected. I would have loved to have been a stay at home mom, but we could just never afford it.” After a little more pushing, she admitted that she really enjoys working and would have “gone crazy” staying at home. When asked if she is a feminist, she would not give a straight answer. “I feel like women can do whatever men can do, but I believe that genders have specific roles,” she said, and then she couldn’t help adding that the only way she would vote for Hillary Clinton is if she ran against Donald Trump.
Lois is close to retiring, and this past week a much larger company from Virginia purchased Questar. Her job is now at risk and although her retirement pension is locked, she was looking forward to the extra few years of income. I reminded her that and …show more content…
This brought both.” I told her that there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in her life right now and asked her how she coped with it all. She responded by walking to her fridge and pulling off a quote she had put up by Gordon
Hinckley, one of the former leaders of the Mormon Church. It said, “Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die at an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive, and you 'll be around for a while.”
My mother is my hero because she accentuates the quote she shared with me. She has had a relatively easy life, but that life came about in a way that she was not expecting at all. She is positive in the face of change, and embraces her worries while moving forward with hope. I found it funny that she didn’t really consider herself a feminist, because it was her strong female example that lead me down the path to advocacy and social work, as well as marrying a very strong female myself. I love my mother and
ATVs to survey pipelines and squabbles with attorneys over payments and zoning.
During our interview, we discussed her work and some of her opinions about life. We have had some major changes in my family recently, with my marriage, my youngest brother coming out as gay, and my middle brother coming out as a Democrat …show more content…
Lois has worked her entire adult life, and currently makes almost three times what her husband makes. I asked her how she felt about this and she said, “Well, it is definitely not what I expected. I would have loved to have been a stay at home mom, but we could just never afford it.” After a little more pushing, she admitted that she really enjoys working and would have “gone crazy” staying at home. When asked if she is a feminist, she would not give a straight answer. “I feel like women can do whatever men can do, but I believe that genders have specific roles,” she said, and then she couldn’t help adding that the only way she would vote for Hillary Clinton is if she ran against Donald Trump.
Lois is close to retiring, and this past week a much larger company from Virginia purchased Questar. Her job is now at risk and although her retirement pension is locked, she was looking forward to the extra few years of income. I reminded her that and …show more content…
This brought both.” I told her that there seems to be a lot of uncertainty in her life right now and asked her how she coped with it all. She responded by walking to her fridge and pulling off a quote she had put up by Gordon
Hinckley, one of the former leaders of the Mormon Church. It said, “Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die at an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive, and you 'll be around for a while.”
My mother is my hero because she accentuates the quote she shared with me. She has had a relatively easy life, but that life came about in a way that she was not expecting at all. She is positive in the face of change, and embraces her worries while moving forward with hope. I found it funny that she didn’t really consider herself a feminist, because it was her strong female example that lead me down the path to advocacy and social work, as well as marrying a very strong female myself. I love my mother and