From Manhattan to Madison, the Long Way Around: Changes and Challenges Over a Lifetime

Eleanor Jacobs went abroad for the first time when she sailed to Panama to marry a fellow New Yorker and moved to Guatemala. Eleanor describes in amusing detail her crash course in household management and socializing with friends of dictators. The war years were spent in Trinidad, New York and Washington and saw the birth of her only daughter. She spent two years in Bombay, India, at a time of political unrest before settling down in Panama City, Panama, to juggle the demands of wife and mother and eventually that of career woman. Widowed at 54, her daughter married, Eleanor was recruited to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) executive team in Madison, Wisconsin. She returned to the US after living abroad for 27 years, but a medical condition forced an early retirement. Her health continued to be a major challenge, both physically and spiritually, and she discusses the challenges of these years thoughtfully and philosophically. She has lived in a continuing care community in Madison since 1990, retaining her involvement with CUNA while developing new interests. The essays she wrote in her creative writing classes form the basis of this memoir.