Life being what it is makes it very difficult to always be on the sunny side.
Sunnyside Plantation would be where my journey and story begins.
Has anyone ever heard about Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County, Arkansas? Would you be interested in reading some history about this little known Plantation and it’s secrets?
My ancestors seem to be whispering in my ear to tell their story. I feel I owe it to them to relate the hopes, dreams, fears, bravery, heartbreak, and resilience of an immigrant family determined to have a better life. Life was tough, but they were tougher! My intention is to preserve the memories of those amazing people here on Steemit.
In the meantime, I’ll tell you how I came to join Steemit and a brief introduction of myself.
I found Steemit while doing some research about cryptocurrencies. Youtube videos by 
My name is Ann Cingolani Irons. Yep, you probably guessed the middle name is Italian. I love all things Italian!! My paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants from the shores of the Adriatic Sea, so I’m second generation Italian. Technically, I’m only half Italian, but it is the culture I have most been exposed to, other than American, so that is what I identify with most. The other half of me is mostly American Indian with a few drops of maybe Dutch and Irish thrown in for good measure. Learning about that side has been a real challenge, so I don’t know much about them.
Until the end of 2016, I had been happily living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where I had been for the past 30 years. My job afforded me the opportunity of having an office based in my home and also to travel around the whole state of La . Occasionally, I was sent to other states. I lived in a modest house, in a modest neighborhood with my husband who worked for the state of La. We liked to grow Sago palms, citrus trees and a variety of other plants.
That all ended in August of 2016, when the great flood in Baton Rouge destroyed that home. My husband passed away a couple of weeks later., so I had no reason to stay in Baton Rouge. Now residing in Little Rock, Ar., I am opening a new chapter of life and moving on!
Did I mention that within the last couple of years I have been diagnosed with neuropathy? Doesn’t sound like much of a big deal if you don’t know anything about it, but believe me, to someone who has in the past been extremely active, it’s a big change. It’s like dealing with a death because it’s definitely a loss.
In my case, it’s a loss of being able to walk normally at a regular gait and pace, a loss of balance, a loss of feeling secure when walking, a loss of confidence, self esteem, and dignity at times. However, I’m not in pain, so I’m very thankful for that part. I found a really great place to take neuropathy treatments that seem to be helping a lot.
There is no cure, but a very good chance of getting somewhat stronger and better is possible. Being forced to slow down and do things at a limited pace has really been challenging, but somehow I’m coping.
This journey we call life is spent on a winding, curving road! I guess we always need to be prepared to expect the unexpected . Right?
I really don’t know how, but in my lifetime, I’ve also managed to survive numerous tornadoes, hurricanes, home fires and floods. Oh yeah, tons of financial troubles too! I should be really good at survival skills by now, don’t ya think???
It’s not my intent to elicit sympathy by revealing all this information, but rather to give you an insight into the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life thus far.
In the past, I have done a multitude of things. Coming from a small town in Arkansas, I had to be very creative in making ends meet. If I told you all the jobs and entrepreneurial endeavors I’ve been involved in, you would probably not believe it. You would think I was just a job hopper, but that’s not true.
The first 20 years of my 50 year work life, was spent holding a full time job and most of the time either having two or three part time jobs, or one part time job and something I created for additional income. The last 30 years or so was spent as a full time Real Estate Tax Researcher, Part-time Craft Show Vendor, and doing Retail Arbitrage.
Presently, I’m living the life of a retiree, keeping busy with family, friends and various other activities that include but are not limited to being an eBay Seller, different types of exercise routines to keep fit and healthy, researching interesting topics, and doing some traveling whenever possible.
My kids, grandkids and great grandkids are too numerous to tell you about right now, so I won’t bore you with the details, maybe I can share some stories in the future. Suffice it to say that I have plenty of stories to tell!
A long lifetime of many adventures, misadventures, trial and error episodes, travels, entrepreneurial activities and numerous memories, should keep me busy writing and posting for quite a while. Hopefully, in the future you will find some of or perhaps all of my subjects to be of interest. I also look forward to reading valuable content from others.
You can never go back, so going forward I’ll be adding to my bucket list and getting it all done! Steemit is on the list!
Remember……
Stay on the Sunny Side!!