“I lost my teaching career. Teaching was more than my job; it was my passion. My identity. However, the pain and fatigue from my autoimmune disease (Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease) made it necessary for me to ‘retire due to a disability.’
I found my second career, as a writer. Since I was no longer teaching full-time, I could write full-time. Personal essays I submit to literary journals and anthologies. Blog posts for my personal website. Assignments as a regularly contributing writer for a popular family-oriented website, MomsLA.com.”
My personal essay, “Lost and Found,” is a series of reflections — about what I have lost as a direct cause of my autoimmune disease and what I have found as a result. It’s a way of acknowledging the ways I have changed, the ways my life has changed.
“Lost and Found,” was recently published in the Summer 2021 issue of Breath and Shadow. You can click here to read the essay in its entirety.
WendyKennar.com 
Wendy, I once lost my dream job, the job I believed defined me. People crowded ’round me at social gatherings to marvel and ask questions. How do you do it? Isn’t the stress too much? I realized in the aftermath that my job was a false front; people related to my image, but not to me. Some lucky few have jobs and personal identities that meld perfectly and enhance one another into greater wholeness. I have that now, but it was teachers like you who encouraged and taught me such a thing was possible. As always, Wendy, your writing is an inspiration.
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John, thank you so very much for sharing. Your friendship and encouragement mean so much!
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