My kids were at that awful age – teens – determined to drive this single Mother crazy.
My job was boring. All my co-workers talked about going out to the local bars to pick up
guys and no one was reading books.
Then an article I wrote was published in a monthly magazine, I brought it to my office (in Boonton, NJ) to show my immediate supervisor. He admired the magazine. He turned to the page I had marked where my article began. He flipped the pages and said with a sweet smile – “So many words . . .” Need I tell you he did not read the article?
So I applied for a new job. This company’s Human Resources Manager was a friend of a
friend. I was a shoo-in, I thought. Then he asked a question and I had the temerity to reply,
“I was ambivalent. . .” 
about something or other. The man who held my fate in his
hand wrinkled his brow in displeasure and said, “Do you have to use such Big Words?”
I could not have been more frustrated. Then I found an article asking, “Can You Qualify for Mensa?” I went to NY to take a proctored test. I felt I had not done well because I wasn’t really sure of some definitions. Was an orrery really the model to show the relationship between the planets and the sun? Was Petrouchka indeed a marionette? In the elevator going down from the testing room several other candidates were worrying aloud. Each of us was amazed at a words of the others has missed. One of them was amazed that I doubted the identity of Petrouchka!
I was jubilant when I heard that I had qualified for Mensa. I needed some urging from my daughters – but off I went. The people I met were wonderful! They had read the books I had been reading! I could discuss the daily news! I could use a BIG word without a grimace from my audience! I met a man whose greatest joy in joining Mensa was that his frequent, clever puns were understood. I met women whose interests were not just clothing or picking up men. This was heaven. Without a sip of alcohol, I achieved a huge high. I soon discovered another plus of belonging to Mensa. Unlike most other social organizations, single women could gracefully attend any function without a date. I soon became a very active part of the local scene. And when I attended my first Annual Gathering in Philadelphia, I felt I was part of a family.
Best of all, when my company transferred me to Dallas, from NJ, I had already formed connections with people in North Dallas Mensa.
I arrived in November and had the good fortune to be warmly welcomed to a fellow Mensan’s Thanksgiving dinner. I had ceased to be lonely, I was having fun. So much fun. A newcomer in a strange but amiable environment, I had a menu of choices, Sunday brunches, meetings featuring fascinating speakers – the usual fare – as much if not more than in NJ and NYC. And they had the best New Member Meetings – wall to wall people. (I wonder if they still do?) When I moved again it was to Puyallup, WA. Nothing was happening nearby, and so I quit Mensa and found new interests. But I moved again – closer to a Big City. And I'm back!
