Debby Does…

At this moment, I think everyone who follows me knows me pretty well, but I’m hopeful that more people will get to know Debby and her doing. I thought I might pin this to the top, so new friends can get to know me. 

As I’ve said, I just retired from 25.5 years of teaching—a career I never anticipated. My mom taught high school English for more than 40 years, and I was bound and determined not to follow in her footsteps. The universe has a funny sense of humor and with the lure of benefits and a much more stable schedule than acting. 

Yes, that’s what I did before teaching. I was the dazzling ingenue star of classic musicals. I fulfilled the dream of getting my Equity card, getting typed out of Broadway auditions, and “standing in line with 200 girls who are younger and thinner than me.”

Now, I’m looking to embark on a new adventure. 

I’m not going alone, though. I’ve got three trusty sidekicks—my husband of 30 years and favorite tenor/sous chef/video editor/man about town, Jim; and our two Puerto Rican rescue dogs—Matilda who is 11 with many a health issue and our young upstart, Adelaide, who at the new year, just completed her first trip around the sun with us.

The four of us are going to pack up our lives—New Jersey and Florida—and move to Bloomington, Indiana, where we first fell in love way back in the 1990s. We’re pretty antsy to get out there and start the next phase of our lives, but we’ve got a few real estate transactions with which to wrestle before we can load up the covered wagon and hit the trail. 

We have no idea what we’re going to do when we get there. We’ve got lots of ideas from wedding venues to a pre-event gathering space or maybe even high end consignment interiors. What we do know is that we get to do it together. Due to unavoidable circumstances, this is the first decision in 30 years that we have gotten to make solely based on our own happiness. There’s something undeniably freeing about that.

So, what do you get with Debby? Well, oxford commas are a guarantee. I also double space after periods, because I fear Dr. Lauer, of Ocean City High School typing lore, may come after me from the great beyond. You’ll get lots of musings and laughs; more tears than you might expect; and me, constantly saying “um,” because even pageant interview boot camp never broke me of that nasty habit. I hope you’ll also get to immerse yourself in the joy I find in learning, surviving, and thriving in the next chapter of my life. 

I’m Debby. How do you do? It’s a pleasure to meet you! xoxo