Joining us today is Valerie Kent, author of the helpful new book Gracious Living on Social Security. We’ll talk to her about this new book, her life, and how to apply the advice from her book to your daily lives.
CM: Welcome Valerie. It’s wonderful to have you here. Can you please tell our readers a bit about yourself?
VK: I am a mature woman who has worked my way through a series of experiences and identities. Married for many years to a difficult, heavy drinking industrialist in the Middle West, I was divorced at forty-five and began many years of higher education, leading to several advanced degrees and an adjunct professorship at Eckerd College in Florida.
CM: Your first marriage ended in divorce. How did you handle that? Were there moments where you felt you failed somehow?
VK: Divorce is never enjoyable. We had three children who needed a lot of support. But an increasing awareness that I was being stifled by an overbearing husband led me to back out at forty-five. Whatever regrets I might have had were more than offset by a feeling of liberation.
CM: You returned to school at the age of forty-six and went on to become a drug and alcohol counselor and then a college professor. But you grew up in an era where women were expected to be housewives. Did anyone challenge your decision to go to college and seek out a new career?
VK: Women of my generation were primarily expected to become homemakers. My parents in England were especially adamant on that point. Obviously my decision to move on was not what my ex-husband had in mind.
CM: You’re part of the Baby Boomer generation. How did that influence your career and life decisions?
VK: I came along before the baby boom, but certainly the women’s liberation movement and the increasing expectations of greater personal freedom helped motivate me to make the break.
CM: You moved from England to the United States during the Great Depression, and soon after, America entered World War II. Did living in America during these major events lead you to live a more frugal lifestyle?
