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December 1964 I moved to San Jose, CA. In 1965 I met and later married Gary, who graduated from North High School in 1960, who stayed in CA after his tour with the Navy. In 1976 we divorced (no children). I met Paul in 1977 and married in Jan 1980. We bought a house near Monterey and lived there for 6 months while Paul worked at Seaside Police Department. We moved to Scotts Valley, CA -- near Santa Cruz. We got custody of his son, Paul Jr. in 1981.
CAREER -- *I first worked at Deaconess Hospital during high school as the floor kitchen/aide. *Spent summer of 1960 in Glacier Park working as assistant dishmachine operator. *Went to nurse's training (Deaconess Hospital) for 1 year. *Went for U of M for 1 year (math major), *then worked at Control Data for 2 years. *Moved to CA and worked at IBM from 1965-1987) as a secretary, programmer, technical writer (published author). *Went back to college parttime to complete my degree and post graduate degree; became a chiropractor, graduating in 1989. *IAs a chiropractor, in 1991 appointed by the CA Governor to the Medical Quality Review Committee (County of Santa Cruz), part of the Consumers Affairs Department. *A few months after Paul's death, needed and found a job as a medical bookkeeper at a Hospice and worked there for 9 years, becoming Operations Manager after a few months.
LIFE CHANGING EVENTS: *After graduating from Palmer Chiropractic College in 1989, experienced the "big" earthquake. It was 7.0 magnitude with epicenter only 7 miles from our home in Scotts Valley (50 miles from San Francisco -- it was not the "San Francisco" earthquake, as news stated, but the "Loma Prieta" earthquake). Had 1/4 million dollars damage to our home. Changed my life forever.
*In 1992, my husband was killed on his motorcycle on his day off in Big Sur, another life changing event. Paul was a police detective. *(I had just began seeing patients in 1990, and had a nice growing practice after a short while.) Paul had already cancelled his life insurance, the mortgage insurance while I was a student, and the earthquake insurance 3 months before the big 1989 earthquake to save some money). I found a job at a nearby Hospice, but I also continued seeing patients in my home after work and on weekends. *Soon my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I needed to stop in to see her several times a week (lived in a mobile home 45 miles away). She had good neighbors who were excellent overseers for a long while. October 1998 I brought mother into my home and April 1999 she moved into an assisted living, then into a nursing home fairly quickly. She died in 1999, November. After Paul's death in 1992 she lived with me for 3 months and was the glue that held me together. Friends and fellow officers were also around to help me when needed.
FAMILY LIFE: *Paul's son (Paul, Jr.) ran off when he was just 16, and returned in a few years with a pregnant wife, no job, and needing assistance (familiar anyone)? He had a son, Nicholas, soon after. *After Paul was killed in 1992, Paul Jr's wife and son came to live with me for 6 months (he had moved on), and I got to enjoy my grandson and it was a wonderful time for all 3 of us. Since construction (from the earthquake) was to start, they only could stay with me for 6 months. They moved back to AZ where she had family. After high school, *Nicholas joined the Navy and will be career Navy. He met and married Jessica, while he was stationed in Virginia Beach, and they had a son, **Hunter, in 2006; August 9th of 2010 their second son, **Carter was born -- I'm now a great grandma X 2. What fun! They're on their way to Hawaii now for a 3 years tour. Next year they'll come to WI to visit. Can't wait. After Nicholas has put in some time in the Navy, he'll be going back to school to finish his education.
BEST DECISION & RETIREMENT: *In 2001 I came back to WI for a family reunion (mother's side) -- first in many years. I liked my relatives, though I hadn't seen most for 40 years, and enjoyed Northern Wisconsin. (I had lived in Rice Lake, WI and Duluth, MN before moving to Minneapolis for 9th grade, so I knew a bit about the weather). I had been house-hunting on the internet and Spooner, WI seemed to come up a lot. Went house-looking after the reunion and bought a house in Trego township (Spooner address). *Went back to CA, sold my house and moved to my little cottage (1/3 the size of CA house) on the outskirts of Spooner in April 2002. I knew no one in Spooner and my relatives were almost an hour away (they didn't think I'd really move to WI after living in CA). *Before I purchased the Trego cottage, I carefully looked at Spooner to see if they had all the things I needed to live here. The large supermarket is open 24 hours a day (like CA), has a deli, liquor store, bank, bakery, video store, and pharmacy all under one roof plus a drive through deli and pharmacy -- both really good ideas. There are 3 hardware stores in town, a clothing and shoe store, additional 5 new restaurants since I moved here, many churches, a K-Mart-like store, feed store, a couple of clinics and a hospital and lots more, including the old "downtown area" near the Railroad Museum and new Canoe Museum. Rice Lake and Hayward are each about 30 minutes away, and they have other stores, like WalMart, Menards and many drive-thru restaurants. Spooner does have a DQ, McDonalds and 2 Subways, so no shortage of fast food. With Schwan's (frozen food) coming by every other week, I can be homebound when needed. I also found the people here to be so friendly.
*My home is small, but very warm and cozy, and I have a small creek running behind it. The home is on a knoll, so good runoff in heavy rains. Having lived in the country in CA with septic and water systems -- I know more than I ever wanted to know about them, and I'm not uncomfortable in this environment. Didn't have a problem with bears in CA though, or all the other wildlife, but do enjoy seeing deer outside my kitchen window plus other friendly wildlife. I respect bears (esp. since 1960 summer in Glacier Park) and do my best not to entice them with bird feeders, gardening and garbage cans. Besides a garage I have a separate cabinetry shop on my 5 acres only 6 miles from town on a well traveled highway (faster getting plowed out in the winter). Have wonderful neighbors and have found great new friends.
*I only miss CA when I think of my friends or going out for great Mexican food or shopping the outlets, otherwise, I'm perfectly content here. When I miss my CA friends, I pick up the phone or use email. *I love retirement and enjoy crafting -- especially knitting and crocheting, which I usually do daily. I usually end up watching TV and spinning something with yarn in my LR. Special Projects: Have made 100 hats for soldiers from Iraq to Germany in winter, and over 125 prayer shawls. I have a craft outlet in Two Harbors (Northwoods Pioneer Gallery & Gifts) for my knitting and crocheting, plus I craft for local and national charities, such as Project Linus or Chemo Caps for Women. (If you want to see my recent TV Interview for the Northwoods Pioneer Gallery and Gifts north of Two Harbors, use the video link in the "Video" area below.
*I enjoy entertaining and am getting to be a pretty good cook -- but call first, okay?
I moved with 2 dogs and 3 cats (Subaru cross-country). I now have 1 dog & still 3 cats, 1 a new kitten. My, Foxxy, a 2 year old Australian Shepherd, is a very good dog (unless company comes and then she might misbehave). Foxxy thinks Snow Flake (kitten) is her little baby and will pick him up by the neck and move him to wherever she wishes to play. If Snow Flake doesn't get enough attention, though she lays right in front of Foxxy, and the playing begins.
It's a good life and I love it here. It's definitely my home.
