DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200564

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 2    EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: SONG OF A SAILOR 

SOURCE: Ronald Speer 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

WORKING MOMS LIKE ANNE SAITA ARE AMERICA'S MODERN HEROES

Working mothers, in my opinion, are the heroes of today.

They face challenges at home and at work that most men couldn't cope with.

And I think working mothers of today work longer, harder and under more pressure than did their mothers, who hold a special place in America's heart for laboring in the home to nurture their children.

My mom raised a family of four in country house without indoor plumbing, a telephone or electricity. But she never had to meet a school bus, take a kid to a baseball game, leave us when we were sick, find a baby sitter or discover at mid-afternoon that she was going to have to stay at work that night and needed somebody to watch us until she got home.

Her mission statement was very specific - take care of the house and the kids.

Many working mothers of today still have that mission statement, but they may have a similarly challenging goal at work.

Most husbands are more helpful now than in the past, but the mothers in most homes are still called on to cook, clean, wash and take care of the kids.

Single working mothers have the biggest challenge, of course, solely in charge of the home and kids while holding down a job that often doesn't provide enough to pay the bills.

But life is tough even for working mothers who have helpful husbands.

I have long admired the way reporter Anne Saita handles job and home. For years I've envied her journalism skills displayed day after day while she covered Currituck County and northeast North Carolina for the Pilot. She staffed school board and county commission night meetings, wrote about the Albemarle's most interesting people, and won the trust of officials who knew she'd do her best to get her stories right.

While she was doing a crackerjack job of reporting, she also managed to get her daughters, Elise, 10, and Alex, 8, to dance classes, swimming lessons, track meets, 4-H events. For three years organized a youngsters' physical fitness competition. She was always juggling, calling to say she'd be out for the afternoon listening to recitals but would cover the school board meeting in the evening.

Anne had help, of course, from her husband, Gilbert, but his Coast Guard duties called for a flexible, ever-changing schedule.

Since her days were clogged with activities at home and at work, Anne ran for miles before dawn to keep in shape for marathon races, and completed half a dozen of the 26-mile runs.

The Currituck commissioners gave Anne a plaque when they heard she was leaving Elizabeth City because her husband had been transferred to a Coast Guard base in Massachusetts. The commissioners praised her for putting in ``long and hard hours to provide the most objective reporting of county governent.'' School Superintendent Ronnie Capps cited Anne for writing about school successes as well as failures.

At a going-away party for Anne, I mentioned how hard she had labored for the Pilot and called her ``a wonderful reporter and a wonderful writer.''

As I finished speaking, one of her daughters paid her the ultimate accolade for a working mom when she whispered to Anne:

``And a wonderful mother.''

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