Blue Water Woman

Happy 30^th anniversary to me.

Thirty years ago today, I moved to Port Huron.

Oh, what a ride!

I’ve officially lived in Port Huron longer than I’ve lived in any other city in my life, so, of course, Port Huron has definitely become my “adopted” hometown.

When I moved here in 1992, I was just 28 years old and fresh faced (lol…see the funny photo of the skinny gal with the short auburn hair wearing a red business suit with ginormous 80s shoulder pads).

I moved here — having spent two years living in landlocked misery in Lansing — to accept my very first management position while working in Corporate America. In coming here, I once again found solace on the waterfront. I’d missed living away from one of the Big Lakes, having been raised in the Upper Peninsula, in Marquette, within walking distance of Lake Superior.

I spent five years working as the director of communications at Woman’s Life Insurance Society, and then moved on and spent another five years working at River District Hospital as the director of marketing and public relations.

I left that position to work for myself full-time, having started the business as a side-hustle just two years earlier.

To say Port Huron and St. Clair County have been good to me would be an understatement.

Though I will admit that it was difficult, in the early years, to make friends – there was no “Blue Water Young Professionals” group and not many places for me to go to find other young people under 30 years of age to hang out with – once I found a group of welcoming peeps, there was no turning back. Many of those peeps are still close to me to this day.

I eventually found my way to the Port Huron Yacht Club. The friendships and sailing experiences I’ve had as a result of my membership there could and probably should fill a book someday. I’m forever grateful for my PHYC friends/family.

I am thankful for so much about my life here…for the friendships that have turned into adopted families (this is especially important because my biological family lives 1,500 miles away)…for the businesses and organizations that have hired me/my business to help take care of their marketing and advertising needs…to the business owners and executive directors of organizations who have crossed the line from clients to dear friends…and, of course, to the Blue Water Woman advertisers who allow me to share the stories of the women in our community. Anyone who knows me knows that publishing Blue Water Woman is my favorite part of my job today.

When I moved here in 1992, I never in a million years thought I would be celebrating three decades of citizenship in this community. I fully expected to spend less than a handful of years here and then move on. In fact, I very much wanted to return to my hometown of Marquette at some point.

During Year Five here, I did receive a call from a former boss in Marquette. He was retiring. He asked if I had any interest in applying for his job. For a number of reasons, I felt the timing wasn’t right to be packing up and moving, and though a year or two earlier I would have jumped at the chance to return “home,” at that moment, I realized that I was establishing roots here and it just didn’t feel like the right time to go.

I guess that time never came.

So, thank you so very much to everyone close to me (too many names to mention here, but certainly you all know who you are!) and to everyone who has lifted me up and supported me over the past three decades. I’m eternally grateful.

Thank you.