Who knew that the chicken scratch that I scribbled onto the back of a piece of paper from my recycling bin nearly 30 years ago would one day form the basis for my 536-page tome, Taking Charge of Your Fertility?

I had already been teaching Fertility Awareness for years at that point, buoyed by the effusive responses I always elicited from the women and couples in my classes. The truth is, their reactions were usually no different than mine was when I first took a class in the Fertility Awareness Method at the age of 27. The only difference was that I slithered into my class in the dark of night, hoping that the instructor wouldn’t see me. Why, you may ask?

Alas, it all goes back to the humiliating experience that I had only days before at the women’s clinic where I took the class. I had applied there for a job as a women’s health educator. You can read the longer, cringe-worthy version of it in the introduction to my book. But the gist of it is that I made an incredibly unfortunate faux-pas by asking the executive director who was about to interview me a question that would ultimately result in my being politely escorted out the door before the interview even began. Yikes.

I made the ’ol mistake that scores of people still make to this day: Before I even sat down to be interviewed, I asked her why her clinic taught the Rhythm Method of birth control, since everyone knew that that method was ineffective and antiquated. Seems reasonable enough, since that’s absolutely true, right? Wrong. You see, that clinic didn’t teach the Rhythm Method. They taught the Fertility Awareness Method, and there is a world of difference between the two. What I learned that day is that it would bode well for a person applying for a position as a women’s health educator to know the difference.

Ooohps.

But now, with my curiosity piqued, I couldn’t wait to learn about it. But that would involve relinquishing my pride and trying to sneak in without risking that the clinic director would recognize me. Needless to say, I came away from that class brimming with excitement at all the newfound information I learned, damn near assaulting every woman I saw on the street, wanting to share my new practical wisdom with all of them.