In her first decade, toddler Sondra Briggs went to Atlantic City where her mother worked in the shows. Her Hawaiian babysitter gave her a grass skirt and taught her to perform dances on the boardwalk for coin-throwing tourists.
During World War II, Sondra worked on her family’s farm to help the war effort, no time for play. She felt the war’s impact keenly when her daddy and favorite cousin Alan were drafted.
Alan returned in a flag-draped coffin after the battle of Guadalcanal. Her father was honorably discharged but he had become a bitter man. No longer fun-loving and playful after two near death experiences, he suffered with PTSD and found it difficult to readjust to civilian life.
In her next decade of life, Sondra’s parents and brother Robel trekked with her across the country over Route 66 to California. There she began a life-long love affair with horses.
Fast forward to college, temporary jobs, marriage, motherhood—all jumbled together in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Sondra climbed business ladders when most women were stay-at-home moms. As a wife and parent, she tried to do what others expected of her but as she went through the motions, she felt like a little girl “playing house.” She asked herself, “When will I feel grownup?” Then one day she did. It wasn’t much fun until she found her purpose as a writer and Realtor.
In the ‘70s, as a single mom of four, Sondra persevered in a real estate career. She began as a sales agent and worked her way up to managing broker and company owner.
In the ‘90s, to get publicity for her new laundromat (the fourth one she developed) she wrote an interview featuring the artist who painted its Christmas windows and submitted that to local newspapers. The Ventura County and Coast Reporter put her on staff to interview local artists and restaurants in two weekly columns. The area’s major newspaper the Ventura Star sent her freelance assignments.
After the turn of the century, Sondra’s first book Port Hueneme Beach Walks: My Pathway to Peace (now in its second printing) resulted in television, radio and newspaper interviews. Individuals and organizations hired her to lead mediation beach walks.
In spite of, or perhaps because of, divorce, single parenthood, bankruptcy, foreclosure and growing older, she became her own person. Sondra stopped the impossible job of trying to please everyone else and found her own path.