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Never thought I would live in Texas, the land of many ancestors. My great great Grandfather was one of the 5 founders of Ft. Worth. My great Grandmother, Grandmother and Mother were all born there. And now a daughter lives there.
Am scrapbooking heritage. Would love to get that finished so I can go on to twins, children and grandchildren. I have pictures of 3 great great greats. My ancestor women saved lot of pictures and information and I am forever grateful to them. I use a combination of digital work and hands on for my layouts.
After College I taught for a year at the grade school I had attended, then for a few months at an inner city school in Denver. The teachers there were not required to sign contracts (thank goodness). I just did not have the stamina for that. After I left, I heard that they tied up the new teacher in her chair. These were 5th graders! After that I worked at New York Life Insurance till marriage.
Johns mother set up a meeting between us. I already had known his parents for a couple of years through conservative Catholic meetings. He was coming home on leave from Andrews AFB and wanted to meet someone. So he returned a book to my mother from his. We dated the whole month he was home before he was assigned to England. He was most fortunate to go there instead of Vietnam. At some point we decided I would like England also so I went over there to get married. Lived there for 1 and 1/2 years. Our favorite hobby there was brass rubbing. That involved using special crayon like stick on paper over the grave images (usually in Churches) of knights and so on. Didn't know it then, but I actually did a brass rubbing of one of my cousin's ancestors.
We lived in Ipswich (about 65 miles from London). Had to carry a big bag on my back to go do the laundry, and walked there as we had 1 vehicle. The grocery shopping was from the base but often at a little shop run by the Battle Brothers. It was so quaint and and homey. Just loved that. Of course, fell in love with the British accent and the people, who always had time to talk. Life was much more laid back and in slower motion. It rained a lot but everything was very green as a result. While there, John graduated from the base branch of Ball State University with a degree in Counseling Psychology. He never went into that field but ended up with Texaco for many years. When they merged with Chevron he stayed on for a couple of years to help with the transition. Then he had the choice, retire or live in California. Well, a no brainer since all the children lived in Texas at the time. Also, the cost of living would have been prohibitive. The funny thing is, his work would have been 15 minutes from where my twin Sue lives. Oh well!
After England, we lived in Denver (where Analisa was born). Then the job took him to Craig, Colorado (where Laura was born). Returned to Denver and had Ian and Tony there. Michaela and Andrew are Texas born. We have lived here for 28 years (which I just cannot fathom). Have always hated the weather and hide inside a lot during the hot months, which are usually 10 out of the 12.
When a young married I did work at different jobs on the base in England and in Denver, before children came along. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home with the children, which we both felt was very important. The one thing I indulged in in those days, which I continued in Texas was bowling in women's leagues. It gave me some weekly contact with others (aside from Church and School and the grocery store) and was a lot of fun.
Analisa has 4 children, including 5 year old twins (boy, girl). She has a Masters in Education although she graduated from Rice University with a degree in Chemical Engineering. She decided that was not the career for her. She home schools and works part time from home with software issues. Lives in Ft. Worth. She and husband Eric met at Rice University. They had a lot in common along with both being the Valedictorians at their high schools, his in Kansas and hers here in Tx. He is a biochemist.
Laura graduated from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and then from Rice University with a PhD. in Political Science. She also is the mother of 4 including boy girl twins. She also home schools and works part time from home, editing scholastic works and writing. She lives about 20 minutes away. Laura's husband and she met at a dance at Univ. of St. Thomas. He was already graduated when she was a freshman and a friend of his was in the band. The friend challenged him to ask that tall redhead to dance. And they are still dancing. He works for Bayer. His degree is in Biology.
Ian had a troubled childhood with authority issues and drug use. He had to learn a lot of hard lessons, and pulled himself up and now has reaped the rewards of his hard work. We used to spend a lot of time in family counseling with him, and lo and behold, he is now a professor of Psychology at Murray State in Kentucky. His wife, Megan is head of the orchestra at a local high school and loves her teaching position. She plays the violin on weekends in various venues, and when big names come to the area she is always chosen to be in the orchestra. Has played with Mannheim Steamroller for one.
Tony tried college but it really wasn't for him. He was always our steady reliable son. He is married to KC, a photographer. He is a bank manager for Wells Fargo in Austin and owns 2 homes, one of which he rents out. He has done very well for himself without a college education and has a super friendly way with people. Don't know anyone who doesn't like him.
Michaela graduated from University of St. Thomas with a degree in Philosophy ( which gets a person nowhere). She got a Master's in Library Science and is now a librarian. She is in the children's dept. which she absolutely loves. She and Jonathon are expecting their first child in January. They will be closing on their first home in less than 2 weeks. They live in Houston.
Our last child, Andrew is now 24. He has a very difficult time with life. Has been in counseling since the age of 10 and has been on every anti-depressant known to man since then. Very serious depression and anxiety. He can't seem to function in society and is home with us. He has drug and alcohol issues as he does anything to help his depression. We almost lost him to suicide about 3 years ago and we live with that thought constanly as we are sure it could happen again. In this arena, I would ask anyone who has some spare prayer in their hearts to please offer some up for him.
John is, in his retirement, the manager of our food pantry (St. Vincent dePaul) at Church. They pay him for 20 hours a week and he usually works 50. Very much a volunteer job. He derives great satisfaction from helping the needy. He also has been in local theater, mostly musicals. He cantors at Church and sings with the Archdiocesan Choir.
My time is usally taken up with designing on the computer (which satisfies my thirst for artistic output), reading, and above all, helping with the grandchildren. I often go to Fort Worth to help Analisa as she has battled a host of medical problems. Help with the grandchildren here and just love to spend time with all of them. Whenever I'm with one of the families, the first thing the children say is "Grammy, can we do crafts?" We have done a lot of cardmaking and other projects. Favorites are punching and stamping. In my scrapbook work I love stamping the most and they like it too.
I hope I never have to be "retired" from family life. It is too important and fulfilling. Have some health issues (diabetes, fibromyalgia, and oeteoarthritis) but as Debbie Reynolds says in "Unsinkable Molly Brown" "I Ain't Down Yet".
Larry, I thank you for this opportunity to catch up and feel the close ties I always felt at SMOP.
