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When I was young, I had helped Howard build his company from scratch. I was every bit the corporate powe- rhouse. But once the Hawthorne empire was stable, I stepped back to take care of him and our sons, becom ing a stay–at–home mom for over twenty years.
O
Now, when people talk about me, they talk with envy. They say I was lucky, that I chose the right husband and gave birth to the right sons. That I won the lottery of life just by getting married.
But if I had spent all those years building my own career, I would have won on my own terms.
“I want to start my own company,” I said. “I want to show the world that it’s never too late for a woman to start over.”
