APPLETON, Wis. — Life didn’t deal Tammie Penney the greatest of hands.

“I’ve always been slow,’’ Penney will say without a hint of resentment or regret. “But I was never labeled when I was young; I just fell between the cracks.’’

She is asked if that bothers her, if it hurts if people view her that way.

“No,’’ she says. “Cause it’s facts. It doesn’t offend me at all. It’s life. Why fight it? Why go against it?’’

And this is when you realize that while Penney may never have held a hand flush with aces, she found herself the best playbook life has to offer.

"She's got an amazing, positive energy,'' says Ellen Lind, the customer experience team leader at Goodwill North Central Wisconsin (NCW).

But on this day, Penney has every reason to be dour. Her husband, Mike, is in the midst of a health crisis and the amputation of his leg is a real possibility. She feels it inside, and you feel the gut punch yourself when she shares this information. The burden is immense, but she doesn’t really let it show. For reasons that may seem hard to explain, she is outwardly happy. There is a constant smile and an internal joy, punctuated by robust laughter when she pokes fun at herself, which she does often.

She is in the moment, here to talk about her journey at Goodwill NCW, which is celebrating its golden anniversary this year. And come Sept. 18, Tammie Penney will have been along for the ride for 43 of those 50 years.

It’s been a journey that was nearly derailed within the first year, has seen its share of uphill climbs and left her feeling completely lost at others. But, along the way, she also found her husband, a second family and an approach to life we could all learn from.

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When Penney turned 18, she went to ADVOCAP, a community nonprofit agency whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty by creating opportunities for people and increase self-sufficiency.

She only had two requests; no restaurant or nursing home work. When it brought up Goodwill — a kindred spirit to ADVOCAP in terms of its mission — she felt she hit the jackpot.

Penney did well from the start and within the first year was hired by Goodwill. Everything seemed grand.

And then she quit.

Young and impressionable and believing she was in love, she left for California.

“It was just the biggest mistake of my life, that’s all,’’ she said.

It was only a matter of days before reality came crashing down on what she’d done.

“It wasn’t good,’’ she said. “I was just foolish. But to get married to a guy that was six years older and was married and divorced and had two children, living with his mother and sister, I was like, ‘Oh my Lord, get me out of here.’"

“What was I? Crazier than crazy.”

After about 10 days, she was back in Wisconsin and looking for a shoulder to cry on. Naturally, mom was there. There was some sympathy, but it wasn't flowing like a river.

“She just said, ‘You have to learn your lesson your own way. I can’t tell you what to do if you don’t want to listen,’’’ Penney said.

She went back to Goodwill, hoping to get her old job back. It was filled.

She was told to come back each week and check-in. She did. Weeks turned into months, but Penney kept checking in. Finally, she was told, there was an opening. She could have her old job back.

“It was a miracle,’’ she said.

So she made herself a promise.

“Immediately, I thought, 'You know what? I’m not leaving Goodwill again,'’’ she said.

But, years later, that promise would be put to the test.

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His name was Duane, and he had a serious shine for Tammie Penney.

One day he showed up to work with a dozen long-stem roses and left them with the receptionist.

“I went up there and said, ‘What is this?'” Penney said. “Then I look, and I said, ‘I don’t want to go out with him. I’m not fond of him. I’m just not.’’’

A short while later, Duane stopped by Tammie’s workstation.

“He says, ‘Did you like the roses?'” Penney said. “I said, ‘Oh, they’re beautiful. But can you give them to your mother?'’’

She is trying not to laugh now, but she can’t help herself.

“He said, ‘My mother’s dead,’’’ said Penney. “How morbid, right? I said, ‘What about your sister?’ How bad, right? He goes, ‘I didn’t buy them for her.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’m sorry. They’re beautiful and I’ll take them home.’’’

Truth was, Tammie had her eye on someone else. So when Duane later asked her to go to a party that several employees were invited to, she hesitated.

“I said, ‘I want to go the party, but I’d just rather not,’’’ Penney said.

Yet Duane persisted, and Tammie finally relented.

So Tammie went to the party with Duane, happily sporting a brand new winter jacket.

But when the night ended, Penney had herself an unhappy date who took her brand new jacket and pitched into the parking lot, and Tammie collected her jacket then left with the man who would eventually become her husband, Mike.

“I did, oh my word,’’ she said. “Unreal, but it’s real. More than you wanted to hear."

“And ever since then,’’ she said of that night in 1982, “we’ve been together.”

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There came a time around the year 2000 when Penney was struggling to keep up with her quotas and, believing she might be let go, she went looking for another job.

Even though she had promised herself she would never do that again.

She tried Walmart. But its best offer was $1 less an hour and working 1-8 p.m. She said, "No." Then, she went to Younkers, and all they had to offer was a cashier’s position. And that was a non-starter.

“That’s one thing I can’t do,’’ she said. “They made me try that here (at Goodwill), but I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t remember anything. I was stuttering. They said, ‘OK, you tried.’ I said, ‘Can I never do that again?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’’’

So she went back to Goodwill and worked up the courage to speak with her boss and, as Goodwill prefers to do with all its employees, they positioned Penney in a job where she could succeed.

“So we really try to have a more qualified team member work with that individual and really try to find their niche,’’ said Lind. "We try to find something they can excel at.

“She’s harder on herself than anybody else would ever be.’’

What Penney perhaps didn't realize is her presence, along with her effervescent attitude, helped make everyone better.

“She is just the most positive and appreciates … I guess that’s the biggest word I would use,’’ said Lind. “She just appreciates the tiniest of things. And she just lives by that. She lives by appreciating the tiniest things in her life, and she celebrates that.

“Tammie is just always happy, always appreciative, always can find the good in whatever she’s looking at and that just makes a huge difference with everyone here.”

****

Penney turned 62 earlier this month and isn’t sure how much more she has in the tank.

"I hope I can make it another year or two, but my time is definitely getting harder,'' she said.

Tammie and Mike were blessed with two children and now have two grandchildren.

She is asked about calling it quits perhaps at 45 years, which would be an amazing number, and she laughs once again.

"I have had thought that in my head,'' she said. "I have thought 45 ... but I'm one for even numbers. I am. I'm not fond of odd numbers."

Whether it turns out to be 45 or 44 or 43, Penney is grateful to Goodwill and everything it has given her.

"It means everything,'' she said. "Because they are a family. They're my work family.''

Family atmospheres are a quality many businesses promote, but few achieve. But in Tammie's case, Goodwill has been just that.

"Because of how they've worked with me all these years, how close,’’ she said; “just very decent.’

Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-5321 or at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com​