My Mom Working Was the Best Thing

Simone Olmsted (author’s collection)

For International Women’s Day (March 8) I wanted to share one aspect of my mother’s life — when she first went back to working outside the home. In the years prior, she had given private French lessons in our dining room, but in 1968, she became a translator at Washington, D.C.’s Comsat. When discussing all the changes it would entail in our routine, my parents were very open about the financial necessity of her going to work. At…