Emerald Heights

It took retiring to find my dream job
by: Marilyn Farrell

My mom used to ask me, “When are you going to be on television again? I want to tell my friends.”

I guess I was relieved to have that question replace the old one, “When are you coming to visit?”

In those years, my job often landed me on the local morning show at KOMO. The topics varied, but I was there representing the expertise of Family Services, for which I worked for 10 years.

Often I would be dragging a reluctant staff member with me. (I came to think that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who would give their eye tooth to be on TV and those who would prefer being shot!) The social workers I worked with were most often the second kind of folks.

Since I have retired and begun to settle into the life of the Emerald Heights community, I have been recruited to play interviewer for our TV station. I have done a walk-through of our newly renovated Health Services Clinic, an interview with the founders who shared tales of the early days, and recently an interview with new Food and Beverage Director. (See video below.)

I am about as close as I am ever going to get to being a TV talent, and I love it.

I love figuring out the story and what will be important to the viewer. I like working with the team of folks who helped conceive the idea, then film and edit it. It is a new challenge that puts latent skills to work.

I never dreamed it would take retirement to find my dream job.