There have been a lot of stories told about Sharon Johnson.

My favorite ones are the ones told by her friends.

Connie Howard met Sharon in 1977.

Probably Connie says in the laundry room of their apartment building in Manchester, New

Hampshire.

Connie was 17 living on her own with a newborn baby.

Sharon was 25, another young single mom.

I think I thought I could maybe learn a lot from her.

She was just really smart and had her act together.

She had a good job.

She had a nice apartment and seemed to be climbing the ladder.

Sharon was an engineer at a computer manufacturing company.

Connie says back then in the late 70s she'd never met a woman who was an engineer.

Sharon had her own car, was saving to buy her own house.

To Connie, Sharon just seemed confident in control of her own life.

Major think that you could do it.

You know, a 17 year old girl with a baby, I didn't have any direction.

So it, you know, really was a good thing to see another woman like that.

The two of them hit it off.

Connie felt herself nestling in under Sharon's wing.

Connie needed a driver's license, so Sharon let her borrow her car to take the test.

Connie needed a job, so Sharon got her one at the computer company.

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