At age 63, “Grandma” Michele Schuchman of Damascus is vying for the title of Ms. Pennsylvania Senior America.
“Even though you’re over 60, you don’t need to be sitting in a rocking chair and watching the world go by,” she said.
The pageant, which takes place July 30 in Lebanon is dedicated to “enhancing and empowering women who have reached the ‘Age of Elegance.’”
Dealing with personal struggles, Schuchman says she participated in the Miss Senior America Arizona Pageant 2009, after her husband of 30 years served her with divorce papers.
“We all go through our battles and I’ve survived mine over and over again. Through all of my traumas and all of my hells, I’ve come out a winner every time, because I’m free to be me.”
Schuchman says she learned much from the pageant participants. “I walked away empowered from the queens that were there (contestants ranged from 62 to 90), knowing that I could do charity (work).”
Schuchman said the pageant has become a platform to spread the word about the causes she supports and believes in, namely service personnel.
She’s started a not-for-profit corporation titled “All About My Time Now, Inc.”
According to her website: Allaboutgrandmamichele.wordpress.com, her goal is to “works to restore, enhance, and enrich the lives of women who have returned from their overseas military campaigns. We hope to provide a haven for these women and make their transition back to normal everyday life as simple and rewarding as possible.
“We also have a weekly support group facilitating and healing therapies to help families and wives of our Iraq and Afghanistan war vets deal with the loss of a loved one or those still in combat,” she said.
Her dream is to offer her home as a two-week retreat, to help service personnel “in transition, when they come out of service and they just need a place for two weeks, a little motivation (with) my life-coaching ...Help them get a job, secure them, then send them on their way,” she said.
Schuchman is hoping to raise $20,000 to make her home handicap accessible, so she can start housing people. “I also have to have the proper medical people there ...They’re coming back with trauma. I have to be affiliated with the hospitals. This is a long process,” she said.
A life coach, artist, storyteller, and motivational speaker, Schuchman is busy selling her paintings and homemade cards to raise money for the cause.
Anyone wishing to meet Schuchman may do so at the VFW, Post 531 in Honesdale where she’s volunteering her time as a story teller on the first Sunday of the month now through November, during breakfast, 7 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Schuchman offers a free weekly support group for U.S. service men and women and their families on Mondays at her home on Steiner Road in Damascus, 6:30 p.m. To learn more, contact Schuchman at (570) 224-6544.
Honesdale —
