Welcome back to my 2nd of two Mother’s Day inspired interviews!

Today’s post is an interview with my mom, Mary Jo. She is finishing up a major goal that she has been working on for 10 years, and I couldn’t be prouder. Hopefully someone out there will find some inspiration from her journey like I have.

And if you haven’t read my interview with my mother-in-law, Cheri, I encourage you to check that out as well.

Enjoy!

What is the big goal you are working on right now?

I am writing a book called “As Ever Joe” comprised of my father’s letters from WWII. He fought in the Pacific in a unit called the Bushmasters. The project is putting my dad’s war experience and timeline together and sharing it. I discovered so much on my own, having to research the timeline of events and more about his unit in addition to the information I had in the letters. I have to tell the whole story, because he could not put everything in the letters, and he shared so few details after he returned.

How long have you been working on it?

I started working on this around 2009 as I had time. So I’ve worked on it off and on with my cousin, Geri, for about 10 years at this point. The first three years were spent reading letters, putting them in chronological order, and typing them up. I ramped up the time and effort I put into it in the last year and I hope to have it completed by this fall. I’ve gone to writing and publishing seminars, traveled to the Bushmasters museum in Arizona, and the WWII museum in New Orleans. It’s been a long journey.

What’s motivating you?

My motivation for the book is to give my father his 15 minutes of fame. Once I learned what he did and what he went through, I wanted everyone to know it because I’m proud. It’s funny how we don’t know what’s inside human beings and what our potential is, and that fascinated me. My dad did all of this stuff and you would never know it. And the fact that these letters survived all those years motivates me; my parents moved a lot and we had three floods, but he kept them upstairs high on a shelf in a blue suitcase. That makes me feel like my dad wanted this story to be told, but he didn’t want to tell it himself.

When did you know this was something you wanted to do?

I knew I wanted to do this right when I found his letters. I had already gotten information about his medals and was intrigued, but didn’t know where to go after that. I had tried to get his war record but there was a fire in St. Louis and it was lost. I had no start and I forgot about it…but then when I found the letters I knew I could figure it out.

What is one word/phrase you would use to describe this process so far?

My first thought is “labor of love”. There have been points that have been exhilarating, when I’d discover a new piece of his timeline, for example. But many times have been laborious and exhausting. But the more I think about it, it’s been more exhilarating than exhausting, so maybe that’s the word I’d choose. I feel like I rescued a story that no one would have known about, and I saved it.

What are some of the internal and external obstacles you have faced?

Externally, my research was difficult and that’s why I had to go to Arizona. Since the Bushmasters were largely a group of minorities of Native American and Hispanic soldiers, they were not truly given their due and are rarely mentioned in WWII literature and museums. Going to Arizona was a real awakening for me. When I did find information much of it was conflicting or repeated in multiple sources, which was frustrating. So it was really difficult in the beginning, but once I got the information I needed it was full speed ahead.

The biggest internal challenge has been how much I want to talk to my dad. He died in 1987, and I would love to be able to talk to him about this and tell him how proud I am.

What have you learned about yourself that you didn’t know before?

I learned about the painstaking process of writing a book and that I was able to stay with it. There’s days when I’m really sick of it. I’ve always had the writing bug, but I always thought it was just for me. But I learned that I can write fairly well and that I should share it. Also, my career always had me running around, being in the community, and being very active; the thought of sitting and working in front of a computer all day never sounded interesting to me, so I guess I learned that I am complicated!

What experiences do you have that prepared you for this?

Working on my master’s degree in Social Work required a lot of writing. I like research, as boring as that sounds, but I actually do like it. It kind of makes me want to go for my PhD. Also, I have always loved reading non-fiction. Even in school I was the kid in the library checking out a biography about Ben Franklin. I think this has been helpful for writing non-fiction.

What advice would you give to someone who is starting a big goal?

Learn along the way and make it an adventure. And when you need a break, take a break. I have a life, too – I am not a professional author and I don’t have a publisher, so I needed to make it fit in with my life. It started out as a hobby that I worked on when I could. But I always remembered how important it was, and that kept me going in the long run. Don’t lose sight of the reason why you are doing it.

What will you do to celebrate once your goal is completed?

Just handing copies to my loved ones is really what I’m looking forward to. That will be my true happiness, to give this book to people that knew my dad, and to those who didn’t get to know him. I have a feeling it will be like when I finished my master’s degree – it took three months to get over that feeling of always having a paper to write. I am going to be relieved.

Are there any projects on the horizon after this?

Yes, as a matter of fact. I decided that I like writing very much, so as soon as As Ever Joe is done, I’m going to work on a children’s book called, “Just Lizzie”. And once I see “As Ever Joe” in print I’ll want to share it. I am getting a lot of positive response from people outside of my family, so I am hoping it’s as good as I think it will be as I try to take it to a higher level.

So there you have it! Words of wisdom for a woman who knows a thing or two about achieving big goals. I hope you are as inspired as I am!

And with that, I will leave you with this thought experiment:

Who in your life could give you advice on achieving a big goal?

With Mother’s Day approaching I decided to interview my mom, Mary Jo, and my mother-in-law, Cheri. Both of them are in the process of achieving some REALLY big goals, and I am incredibly proud and inspired by their hard work and perseverance. They are doing such an awesome job I figured some of you out there might find some inspiration, too.

So first I’d like to tell you all about my mother-in-law, Cheri, and tomorrow I’ll tell you about what my mom has been working on.

So without further ado, here is my interview with Cheri:

What is the big goal you were working on?

My goal was to attend and graduate from culinary school, and I just graduated last month. Now that I finished, I am working on starting my own baking business. I know nothing about starting a business so it has been a huge learning experience, but going back to school was really the big goal I had been working on for a long time.

How did you know this was something you wanted to do?

I have always been interested in cooking, especially baking. It was something that helped me relax. For years when my kids were growing up it’s something I would do when they would nap. I always loved cooking with the kids, too. I loved to read cookbooks, but I wanted to know more and to be better.  I did some cooking classes here and there, but I wanted to know more about how and why we do it a certain way. I wanted to learn the technical side of cooking.

When did you know this was something you wanted to do?

I had thought about it for years, but I guess I assumed that you had to be really serious and couldn’t just do it for personal growth. But one night a few years ago we were at a party and I ran into a woman I knew who was an academic advisor at Grand Rapids Community College. She used to advise students in the culinary school and I said how I would really love to go back to school but that it’s not an option, and she said “why not?”, and I said “because these other kids want to do it as a career, not just because they want to go. They don’t let people just do it because they want to”. And she said, “Oh yes they do!”. And it was that simple. That night I looked it up online and the following week I was at orientation. I just did it and tried not to think about it too much because I was afraid I would back out because I was scared.

What scared you about it?

The fear of the unknown. Going back as a 57 year old woman, I knew all the kids were going to be in their late teens/early 20s. I knew the technology had all changed since I was in school. In terms of age, I knew I would be the minority in the program, and as it turns out the teachers and students did end up not treating me very well at times because of that.

What were some of the internal and/or external obstacles you faced?

They were both internal and external. External challenges were not knowing what I didn’t know. I really had no idea what I needed to know. Academics and technology had changed so much since I was last in school so that was a huge challenge for me. Internally it was always a struggle to keep my head up. I had to keep telling myself it doesn’t matter if everyone is nice to you or not – you can’t let it sway what you are doing.

What is one word or phrase you would use to describe this experience?

Strength. When I would be scared, stressed, anxious or filled with self doubt, I had a mantra I would chant to myself: “You are a strong, smart, capable woman. You can do this!” And believe me I chanted this frequently!

What did you learn about yourself that you didn’t know before?

That I am a lot stronger than I think I am, and that I don’t need to be afraid. It’s hard to be a new situation, but it’s important to not let fear hold you back.

What experiences or skills do you already have that helped prepare you for this?

I had already graduated from college so I knew how to study, and I am a planner. I also always try and stay positive and be nice whether I am treated in that fashion or not. I think that in life you can stand up for yourself but do it in a nice way. So I had a very positive attitude which was huge.

What did you do to celebrate once your goal was complete?

I finished in April and there was a little celebration at school and some of my girlfriends came, which was nice. But I really don’t feel like I need a big celebration – this was more of a personal thing. I am really happy and proud of it. But it does seem weird now that it’s over after I had been working on it for so long, so in my new spare time I have been baking a lot and working on my business.

Tell us more about your next project, your business you are starting.

I want to share the skills I have learned with other people, not just my family. I want something that I can do when I want to do it, that offers me a lot of flexibility. That way, if something comes up I can still be available to see my family, travel, etc. I want the best of both worlds. If I really want to be busy I can be, but I am not sure that I want to be right now. I want it to be fun, and I’m fortunate to have the luxury to do that.

What advice would you give to someone who is starting a big goal?

Don’t be afraid. It gets hard to stay focused on the goal and there’s going to be bumps. But don’t let any external things keep you from doing what you want. You might get sidetracked, but stay the course. If it’s worth it to you then you should keep on, even if it takes a long time. Time is going to go by regardless of what you do, so ask yourself, are you going to be where you want to be or not?

So there you have it! A big thank you to Cheri for sharing her story with me and my (approximately) billions of blog readers. She’s got great advice, so I encourage you to try some of her suggestions on your own big goals!

And with that, a thought experiment:

Who in your life has accomplished a big goal that you could get advice from?