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About Mary Moos: Mary Moos is a writer who began her storytelling journey in 2019 after taking GAB classes with Mimi Holmes. She has written 87 stories and continues to create more. She once believed she couldn’t be a writer because she struggled with spelling. And, she had two sisters who were professional writers. She didn’t think she could claim that label for herself. But through her GAB classes, Mary began to value her stories and appreciate the worth they will have for future generations. It took participating in GAB classes to convince her that she had something important to share. Growing up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Mary was the oldest of five siblings. From a young age, she developed a love for learning. She attended St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul at a time when women students could not wear pants and college life was lived under the watchful eyes of housemothers. She earned degrees in art history and philosophy. After graduating from university in 1963, Mary joined the U.S. Army as a civilian. Her job was recreation director for the armed forces. She lived in Orleans, France, as Tour Director of the Loire Valley. It was exciting especially when she took a busload of GIs to tour the local chateaux. Most days she set up pinochle tournaments, directed awful talent shows, showed Victory at Sea movies and Dobie Gillis TV shows. Returning to St. Paul, she went into advertising eventually starting her own company, Gordian Marketing. Mary’s Story About Becoming a Published Author: Since retirement I’ve been taking a memoir writing class. The class is small. Every other week we read aloud our story. Most everyone’s story is personal, some more than others. I’ve never felt awkward about revealing parts of my life to this class. The group is respectful and safe. I like and trust them. Several months ago, I wrote a short story on aging for the class. I was encouraged to enter the story in a competition. The winning 50 entries would be compiled in a book, published, and sold on Amazon. I entered the competition and promptly forgot about it. I don’t consider myself a writer. I was shocked when the call came telling me my story “Reflections” had been accepted for publication. The Gift of a Long Life: Personal Stories on the Aging Experience, published by the Birren Center, was to be released March 23, 2024. I was looking forward to seeing my story in print. Then reality hit me. The story was my thoughts, my words and my ideas. And—oh, no!—it would be attached to my name…my real name! The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I realized why I hadn’t wanted to send any story to a competition or publication. I didn’t want to see my name and words out there for everyone to look at. For everyone to disagree with or find distasteful. I wanted to scream at them. Get your grubby judgmental eyes off my story NOW! But most of all I wanted to take my story back. I wanted to put it safely in the folder with my other stories. I wanted to have control over who saw it. I didn’t want just any riffraff to look at it. I wanted to protect my story. I wanted to protect myself. On Monday, March 25, 2024, I ordered a few copies of the book as gifts to say “ thank you” to a few people. I didn’t order a copy for myself. I didn’t want to see this published of myself. I thought I’d feel exposed, vulnerable and unprotected. I didn’t like the feeling of having a part of me hanging out there for the world to see. Today, April 9, 2024, my copy arrived. I’m quite thrilled seeing my words and name in print. (I wonder when I can enter another competition.) Mary’s essay “Outsides and Insights” was published in Gift of a Long Life: Personal Stories on the Aging Experience (The Birren Center, 2024).
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