MY NAME IS LOIS NICOLAI AND I WAS BORN & RAISED IN CHATHAM TOWNSHIP, NJ, BACK IN THE 40'S AND 50'S WHEN THE TOWNSHIP WAS "COUNTRY FARMLAND" AND THE ERA WAS SAFE ENOUGH TO PLAY WITH MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS WITHOUT MY PARENTS WORRYING ABOUT OUR SAFETY.
I GREW UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD TOMBOY AND ENJOYED THE FREEDOM OF PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS ON MY STREET, FISHING IN THE LILY-PAD POND IN OUR BACKYARD, RIDING MY HORSE IN THE COW PASTURES, AND HELPING MY NEIGHBORS, MR & MRS PICKLE, MILK THEIR COW AND CHURN FRESH BUTTER WHILE SIPPING ON WARM BUTTERMILK IN THEIR ANTIQUE KITCHEN RISING FROM THE LAST CENTURY. COULD LIFE BE ANY BETTER THAN THAT?
MY CHORES CONSISTED OF MOWING THE GRASS, FEEDING THE CHICKENS, WEEDING AND HOEING OUR GARDEN, CLEANING THE HORSE STALL IN OUR BARN, AND PITCHING HAY IN OUR HAY FIELD. TEN YEARS AS A GIRL SCOUT, FOUR YEARS OF 4-H AND EVERY SPORT OPEN TO GIRLS WERE MY SOCIAL LIFE, AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THEM ALL. I WAS EVEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO RAISE A SEEING EYE GERMAN SHEPHERD, KAREN, AS A 4-H PROJECT BEFORE SHE WENT INTO TRAINING AT THE NEW SEEING EYE DOG TRAINING CENTER IN MORRISTOWN.
I GRADUATED FROM CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL AND ATTENDED A SEMESTER AT MONMOUTH JUNIOR COLLEGE BEFORE MEETING MY FUTURE HUSBAND, JIMMY JOE LEFFLER, AND SETTLING IN HIS HOMETOWN OF ST. PAUL, INDIANA, WHERE I SPENT 26 YEARS RAISING MY SIX CHILDREN. BY THE TIME I WAS 30 I WAS FULLY CONVINCED THAT MY MISSION IN LIFE WAS TO RAISE MY SIX CHILDREN AND TOGETHER SURVIVE THE INDIANA CORNFIELDS WHERE WE SPENT ELEVEN SUMMERS DETASSELING PIONEER SEED CORN.
BUT THE LORD MOVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS AND TWO WEEKS BEFORE FIVE OF MY CHILDREN WERE TO RETURN TO INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY IN TERRE HAUTE, MY HUSBAND DIED UNEXPECTEDLY, LEAVING ME, AT 46 YEARS OLD, TOTALLY DEVASTATED! ONCE MY CHILDREN RETURNED TO INDIANA STATE I MADE THE DECISION TO MOVE BACK HOME TO NJ. I HAD COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT MY WHOLE LIFE WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
I SETTLED ON THE JERSEY SHORE AND EVENTUALLY BROUGHT ALL MY CHILDREN HERE AT THE END OF THEIR SCHOOL YEAR. I SPENT THE NEXT THREE YEARS WALKING THE BOARDWALK AND BEACH EVERY MORNING BEFORE WORK. MY VISION OF A NEW LIFE SOON BECAME A WORK IN PROGRESS, EVER-CHANGING AS THE SANDY SHORELINE, WHERE I MADE THE MAGICAL, DIFFICULT TRANSFORMATION OF SELF-DISCOVERY, LEADING ME TO EXTRAORDINARY CHANGES.
AT MY 50TH BIRTHDAY DINNER I INFORMED MY CHILDREN THAT I WAS MOVING TO PRINCETON TO BECOME ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND PEACE-MAKING, TO MAKE MY CONTRIBUTION TOWARD BUILDING A SAFER AND BETTER WORLD FOR THEM AND MY FUTURE GRANDCHILDREN.
I MOVED TO PRINCETON IN DECEMBER, 1987, AND SPENT THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS TRAVELING WORLDWIDE INTO 33 COUNTRIES. . THOSE TWENTY YEARS WERE HISTORICAL YEARS, AND I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THE CHANGES. I MET AND WORKED SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH FORMER AND SITTING PRESIDENTS, FIRST LADIES, SENATORS, CONGRESSMEN AND PEOPLES DEPUTIES FROM THE KREMLIN IN MOSCOW.
I BECAME ACTIVE WITH THE OSCE/PAE ORGANIZATIONS AS AN ELECTION REGISTRATION OFFICER AND ORGANIZER/SUPERVISOR OF THE FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN TEN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SUCH AS KOSOVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, MOLDOVA, SOVIET GEORGIA, SYBERIA, KAZAKHSTAN, ETC.
IN 2007 I RETURNED HOME AND WORKED ELEVEN YEARS FOR THE MIDDLETOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT BEFORE RETIRING IN 2018 AT 81 YEARS OLD. TODAY I AM LIVING MY DREAM YEARS RESIDING ON THE BOARDWALK OF MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BEACH AND WRITING MY TRILOGY MEMOIR.
BY THE WAY, AS A TOMBOY I ALWAYS SAID I WOULD NEVER MARRY OR HAVE CHILDREN, BUT I MARRIED AT 20 YEARS OLD AND TODAY I HAVE SIX CHILDREN, 18 GRANDCHILDREN, 10 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN WITH SPOUSES AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS TO ENJOY. SO "NEVER SAY NEVER"!
Find out more about Lois at loisnicolaiauthor.com
I HAVE COMPLETED MY FIRST MEMOIR, AND AM WRITING MY SECOND NOW. i NOW KNOW MY FIRST MISSION WAS TO RAISE MY CHILDREN, AND ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE I ACQUIRED GROWING UP IN CHATHAM TWP. AND RAISING A LITTLE ARMY TAUGHT ME SO MUCH THAT I USED WHEN I STARTED MY PEACE-WORK.