Howdy Class of ’73
I have posted off and on in the past but I just thought I would put out there a quick synopsis of my past 50 years. It is hard to believe that nearly 50 years has passed since many of us have crossed paths. This may well be the last chance that some of us will be able to meet, talk and brag of our lives.
After high school I went to a Tech for two years and got an AA. I worked in that field for several years then Julie and I married in ’76 and have remained together This summer will be 47 years with many more to come. We put Julie through nursing school and when she was finished I returned to the UofI and completed my BA in Math with a minor in CS. I was also told that I could get a minor in American Literature if I would take Chauser or Shakespeare. Not bad considering I pretty much hated high school English. When I graduated I was offered numerous jobs and landed in Ft.Lauderdale. We were there for 32 years until retiring to Ocala
During my working career I was a teacher, Department Chair, Athletic Director with many small jobs sprinkled in. I took classes in the summers at Brown, Princeton, UCLA, FAU and Broward College. I have enough credits for a Masters but never focused on one area. It was more fun and interesting to take courses that I wanted. . Along the way I received certifications from MicroSoft, Oracle and Cisco.
We have two sons Ben and Quin. Ben is an engineer with the FDOT in DC. Married to a wonderful lady, Ally, who is a senior editor for CBS news. Quin works IT for Hilton hotels, we get great deals on hotel rooms. He and his significant other, Riane, live in Orlando. Neither have kids and have chosen to make that decision permanent. We do have , as Julie likes to say, 1 grand dog, 6 grand cats, 4 grand chickens and many grand fish.
We have traveled a lot. We have visited 46 states and 17 different countries. We plan on one more trip to Europe some time, probably around our 50th anniversary. They stories and experiences are many and wonderful with very few disappointments.
Retirement has been wonderful. We bought a house gutted and renovated it, got a new dog and relaxed. We both walked away from our careers and have never looked back. As with most people, probably, miss some of of our cohorts from work ,but not the work. I did work part time for a couple of years but was fired for taking to many vacations. Now we play golf 2-3 times a week along with other social activities.
Mine and Julie’s families still live in or around IC. My mom will probably die in her house on 8th ave. We get back every few years for visits or special events. I miss the friendliness of the midwest but not the weather. I will take hot and humid over snow and below zero temps any year.
Well until we meet again
