Where are you from, Eileen?
I was born in Springfield Gardens in Queens, N.Y., in 1956, and I went to the Katharine Gibbs [secretarial] School. It was like the West Point Academy of secretary schools. You had to take shorthand at 150 words per minute, and you had to type at least 90 words per minute. Then I became a secretary at CBS, and I worked for the lawyers on the 37th floor. After about a year, my apartment was broken into. I wasn’t home, but it scared the heck out of me. I thought, What would have happened if I’d been home? At that point, my family had moved from Long Island to Arizona, so that’s how I ended up in Arizona, and I worked for 17 years at the University of Arizona as a secretary.
How was that experience?
Well, six of those years [were] working for the School of Music with 40 professors. I won an award for excellence and customer service for two years straight, out of like 50 secretaries, because I loved what I did. Then I put myself through Photoshop school while still working. Then, the professors were like, “Wait, I need you to do a poster for me and is that letter done and did you make those reservations for the choir?” So, it became a lot of work, and it drove me crazy. I loved becoming a graphic artist even though I was only seen with the title of secretary, but I would take the work home.
Were you married?
Yes, and I’d never been married before, and I just thought being [in a] Catholic-Irish marriage meant through thick and thin and for richer or poorer. So, for 17 years I took a lot of beating up and him constantly cheating. And I just kept taking it and taking it. So, there I was working for 40 people, being a graphic artist and, on the side, fighting with Workers Compensation for a year for a head injury he’d gotten.
And I knew he was cheating on me with a woman who had a job at the university. And I knew if I said he was cheating on me with her, I would lose my job. So, after 17 years, after all of that, he came into the house with a knife and told me to start signing those divorce papers or else he was gonna cut me. So, I signed them, and the paper said I was to get absolutely nothing. So, then when it became final, I moved to Florida.
Was Florida any better?
Well, I met a guy and dated him for a year, and on Valentine’s Day he proposed. So, I said yes because I really, really, really thought I loved him. But after the wedding he changed completely and told me, “I’m gonna make sure I’m divorced [from] you within six months because that means you can’t get anything from me.” And on top of that, my boss at the time, who was known for being incredibly mean, told me she needed me to give her my pain medicine I had just gotten for some dental work. So, within six months of my marriage, I was divorced, I had to move out and my ex-husband had called all the newspapers and he told them what occurred with the pain medicine. Five hours later I was fired, and so was she.
What did you do?
I just had a mental breakdown. My whole life was just gone. I got really sick, and I have degenerative bone disease and arthritis and the fibromyalgia and the migraines and the severe panic anxiety. It all took its toll. I became homeless in Florida, and eventually I just said, I need to get out of this high-profile, traffic loudness. The best thing I could think of was Tennessee, so I got on a Greyhound.
Were you homeless in Nashville, too?
Yes, I had trouble getting the disability check sent to Nashville, so I was homeless for about four more years. I slept on Shelby Bridge.
What is your life like now?
Now I know I will never have a man in my life again — ever. I have a dog and two cats and my best friends. And I love, love, love living alone. I finally have peace and contentment. I go for therapy once every two weeks. Life is good. I know I could never type again because of the arthritis, but I don’t feel beaten in life.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your customers?
Thank you for accepting me, for giving me a chance to have a better life, spiritually, holistically and financially. You have made me see my life as worthwhile.