It's really strange to think of myself as Jeannie again. Since I left high school, I've been called Gloria. So I'm not quite sure if this is a chronicle of me (Gloria) or she (Jeannie). So I guess I'll go with I. Now all that I've settled that and confused one all, I'll proceed
It seems so long ago that sometimes it's hard
to remember just when I did what. After graduation I moved to Long
Beach CA and started school at Long Beach City college. It didn't
take me long to figure out I wasn't ready for academia. I proceeded
to follow the class prophecy and joined the army to see the world,
or to let the world see me. I was assigned to Ft Bragg, NC
at
the Special Warfare Center, the headquarters
for the Green Berets and Psychological Warfare. This was an
interesting and challenging assignment and I was afforded the opportunity
to become a "Sneaky Pete," a member of the sky diving team better
known as USASWCSPC (The United States Army Special Warfare Center Sports
Parachuting Club). This was very exciting and I guess you could
say educational, it taught me not to jump out of planes anymore.
After three years, it was well past time to try new and different things. I moved to Denver and began working in the actuarial department of an insurance company. Again, I attended school while working, but I was still not sure what I wanted to be when I grew up.
This is when I met and married Ronald Gregory. We settled down, Ronnie working for the stock brokerage company Boettecher and Co., and I working for the City and County of Denver, in the computer department. In due time along came Brenda Kathleen. When she was about a year old we left the " big city" and moved to Hanna, Wyoming. This was really a change for me. In retrospect Lexington is a big city compared to Hanna, a coal mining community and possibly the coldest and windiest place in the USA. We lived here for ten years while Ronnie progressed from warehouseman to Purchasing Manager. While living there, our son Stuart Russell was born.
In 1980, during the Mt. St. Helen eruption, we
moved to Elko, Nevada. After three years Ronnie transferred to work
for the company in Indonesia. He still says it was so the kids and
I could travel. And travel we did. We lived on the western
side of the island of New Guinea, called Iran Jaya, in a company
town called Tambagapura. Outside the confines of the town was jungle.
everywhere you looked, jungle and more jungle.
We had a really neat thing going while we were there, An American standard
house with telephone and all utilities for $15 per month. The
only thing was, one quickly got tired of looking at the jungle and playing
bridge. The perks included WACKO VACS to Cairns, Australia (that's
when you take a trip out before you go wacko).
Added to that were the mid-year of two weeks
in Australia all expenses paid, and "annuals" which were 32 day all expenses
paid for traveling back to the U.S. Of course, I never managed to
come straight back.
Our passports got to be really thick. 42
trips into Australia, and entries, sometimes multiple entries, for
Singapore, Indonesia, England, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Hong Kong, Bahrain and East Germany. Not entered
(I'm not sure why), were stops in China and Russia. Brenda and I made a
trek thru Europe and Russia and Stuart and I did the China
tour. The best part of the China trip was
our visit to Xian (pronounced Shee on) and the visit to see the Terra Cotta
Army, and the village of Banpo which is the oldest excavated village in
the world. Of course the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Ming
Tombs were great too. When we traveled from Beijing to the Ming Tombs,
there were thousands of plum trees in bloom and it
made a great display. In Russia there were
so many wonderful places, but my favorite was the Hermitage in Leningrad.
We spent 3 days at the Hermitage and could go back and spend a month and
still not see all the goodies. One of the more interesting
highlights was actually traveling thru Russia. There are no convenient
filling stations for pottie breaks, so it was stop in the middle of nowhere
with the guys going to the left and the ladies going to the right .
After three years in Indonesia, we retired to a small farm in Missouri.
Retirement lasted for a year, and because I constantly
complained about the bugs, snakes and humidity in Missouri, we unretired.
Our next odyssey has taken us to Henderson, Nevada. Ronnie is the
Purchasing Manager for a gold mine. After working in taxes,
auditing and production, I decided it was time to stay home and enjoy my
granddaughters Brittany and Skye. I have also
discovered school again. Quite a difference
from High School and early attempts at college. I am an art major
at UNLV and still take pottery and art classes at the Community College.
I manage to keep up a 3.975 GPA. Miss Hansen would be proud of me!
Now we are planning on another early retirement.
We have bought a small acreage in Gillette, Wyoming. This is close
to my sisters Betty and Darlene in Casper, and close, but not too close
to Ronnie's family in Hanna. We'll have lots to keep us busy during
retirement. Ronnie is an artist (oil painting) and he's sold quite
a few, last year he placed third in a national contest. We
were quite happy with that. He is also a frustrated farmer and will
have 10 acres to putter on. That along with his woodworking and computer
time should keep him busy. I plan to play with pottery, draw and
paint up a storm, sew, quilt and read to my hearts content.
Summers I will have my granddaughters visit
and winters I can visit them and my daughter in Pensacola, Florida.
Ronnie still does not like to travel! Brenda is now a single mother
and is going back to school to augment her business degree with a marine
biology and oceanography degrees. That should only take about 4 more
years, but she thrives on school. If things look
good, she said she just might become a professional
student.
Sadly, we lost our son Stuart in 1995. We have learned acceptance, and remember with joy the twenty three years we shared with him. Tragedy hit us again when our son-in-law Darren died in 1998. Helping Brenda and the girls cope has helped us get thru this time. We are now looking forward to watching our daughter and granddaughters grow and achieve all they can.
I guess I can now confess that I am a Rabid Denver Bronco's fan. For years I suffered the slings and arrows from my brother Jr. about this. I became a fan when we lived in Denver and must admit I have never attended a game, but during the football season I am glued to the set and it seems the win or loss of a game sets the tenor for the week. Fortunately, the last two years it's been marvelous! No I don't paint my face orange and blue, but I do wear my t-shirt and cap during the games. Ronnie has learned a new language from listening to me during the games, and my granddaughters are not allowed in the room in case it turns blue. I wonder if the referees know some of the names they have been blessed with???
I think it's probably past time to close this narrative, and get it sent. I really do appreciate the setting up of the web page. I gives me a chance to find out what happened to some of the Class of "58. I was so sorry to see the Memorial Page on the site. I guess mortality is something you don't think of when remembering High School, and everybody stays young forever in your mind.
Take care, God Bless and let the rest of us know what's happened and happening in your life.
Gloria
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