A lady of many hats and many adventures, Karla Wright moved to Florida from her native Texas in 1991. Before that, she frequently vacationed at Clearwater Beach when visiting her cousin Kay Sherman. Karla’s first job in Florida was at Pinecrest Place, assisted living facility in Largo now known as Brookdale Pinecrest. Later, she worked in St. Petersburg as personal assistant and caregiver, and since 1997 has been employed in the mailroom and records department at Franklin Templeton Investments in Feather Sound. Here, because of a super supervisor and compatible co-workers, she feels very blessed and in no hurry to retire.
When Karla left home at 21, she didn’t just go out of state. Pursuing a dream, she flew alone to Sydney, Australia, where she easily adapted to a challenging position at Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. Two years later, she was off to England, and there she worked in Surrey, southwest of London, at Grayshott Health Spa, former home of Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Since 2011 when Karla first came to Unity with her cousin Kay, she has enjoyed every moment. Immediately, UCC felt like home to the former occasional Methodist. She loves the ministry and the music and has made lovely friends here. Every week she wears her Anji Kat T-shirt, she helps on Service Saturdays, and, on Sundays, if she’s in town, she will be right here at Unity, same place, front row, right.
A frequent traveler, Karla has journeyed from Mazatlan, Mexico to the Netherlands. Last month, she vacationed in New York, and during the past summer she enjoyed a Viking river cruise, beginning in Basel, Switzerland and ending in Amsterdam. She is looking forward to visiting Charleston, SC, one of her favorite places, in May and to a June 2016 voyage to Alaska.
In addition to traveling, Karla enjoys reading, especially novels and mysteries, and she is also a published author. As a high school student, encouraged by an English teacher in a class where she excelled, she began applying her talent to creating poetry. Her poems have been published in a Canadian college newspaper and in Sydney, as well. Inspired by music and reading, she writes in a flowing free verse style as seen in the following poem. “My World on My Right” was written in memory of her beloved brother Terry Hrbacek, who made his transition on October 2, 2014, and who always sat to her right in the first row at Unity.
My World on My Right
I have my world on my right
God in my heart with blessings beyond forever
Walking with prayers at my threshold
I’m sitting on the front row with my world on my right
Hearing the drums of peace echoing throughout the room
White noise whispers to my senses creating harmony
Knowing I have my world on my right
The journey establishes itself
Plastic thoughts disappear
Tomorrow has a smile
Divine.