European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Is rom Mary Sawyer Diane Wilkerson who was an office manager in California now manages Micah left and Wilkerson s4s pm Mary Sawyer Diane Wilkerson had to a adjust to not having to get up in the morning to go to an outside homemaker Diane Wilkerson says she has a ready answer for those head on crashes with the Quot so what do you do a question at parties. The Mother of two tells people she a a Domestic Engineer. If the answer meets a puzzled expression she elaborates on a bit of what her so Van Day a Wick Job entails. Quot i say to a nurse i m a Mother i m a Secretary for my husband i m a chauffeur in a a seamstress a then they take me a Little bit More seriously. It s not a dead end a lot of people think a if you done to work outside the Home you never get out of the House you sit around and watch to All Day a Wilkerson said Quot so you really have to stand your ground when you re serious about staying Home with your Wilkerson a 34-Ycar-old wife of an air Force technical sergeant Hasni to always been so serious about staying Home. Seven weeks after their first son Joshua was bom in 1982, Wilkerson was Back at her desk As an office manager for an accounting firm in Merced calif., where her husband Fred was assigned to Castle fab. The Columbus Ohio native juggled career and Home for a Little More than a year before the family moved to tinker fab okla., where Wilkerson received the Good news that she was pregnant with their second child Micah who is now 8. The bad news was that secretarial salaries in the area were less than half what she earned in California. A what i would have earned in Oklahoma was basically what i would have been putting out in Gas clothes and baby sitting. It would not have paid to go Back so we just made do with one Wilkerson found her transition from full time work to full time work at Home difficult at first. A i was used to going to work. I was used to More or less having my own income not being so dependent a Wilkerson said. A it took me six months to a year to even adjust to not having to get up in the morning to go to an outside after the tour at tinker Fred was assigned to Headquarters for Allied come Europe in Casucau Belgium where he is an Airframe maintenance superintendent for natos airborne Early warning Force come. Diane said she has not pursued an outside Job overseas because of the High costs of operating a second car in Belgium and a shortage of secretarial jobs made worse by a hiring freeze. Wilkerson said she has no regrets about her unplanned sabbatical from the work Force. A you can have it All but i think in some areas that you really lose a lot too a she said. A you done to get to have a lot of that Good Quality time with your children that you would like to have or with your husband a like Many stay at Home moms Wilkerson spends a lot of time away from Home pursuing outside interests. She frequently helps out in her sons classrooms and stays Busy As president of the Community a International enlisted wives club. She also Hopes to Start teaching sewing classes soon. All that will change next summer when Fred retires from the military and the family returns to the states. Wilkerson plans to take an outside Job while Fred goes to school for the sheepskins he needs to document his skills in aircraft maintenance. A a in a not really looking Forward to going Back to work a Wilkerson said. Quot in be gotten accustomed to doing what i want to do during the Rosemary Sawyer november 8, 1992 sunday a Page 5
