Gene Simmons

As I begin to write this, I’m looking out my home “office” window at the sun just beginning to break through the high clouds to highlight the leaves on the silver maple trees in the back yard.  A gentle breeze is nudging our young redbud tree ever so slightly.  It’s quiet - very quiet… I like it.  And I think back on the somewhat convoluted path that brought me here and wonder how it’s possible that this old Nebraska farm boy could be so fortunate as to wind up living in semi-retirement in this wonderful, small, laid-back town in the Missouri Ozarks.  It’s been an interesting trip.  Overall, a good trip.

Now to put this into the proper perspective, as I was attempting to save the above paragraph in a reasonably logical file folder, I inadvertently hit the “enter” key and this wound up in the folder labeled as “Other Stuff – Jokes” right along with “Quickies”, “The Jungle Chief” and “The Widdle Wabbit”.  There may just be a message in there somewhere…

To continue… I understand that almost all of these Life Stories are laid out in a semi-logical chronological order.  It’s just the way most folks do it.  It’s easier to track along with the story teller, I guess.  Well, I figured out some time ago that I’m not “most folks”.  So just for the heck of it, here’s “my story” – in alphabetical order…

Ardy – the chick I hooked up with just before college, later married and hung together for about 35 years.  And they said it wouldn’t last…

BUF’s – Acronym for Big Ugly F… - OK, you can fill that in yourself.  It was our affectionate way of describing the B-52 bombers that were my vehicles of choice for seeing the world for a few years.  OK, so my view was usually from around 40,000 feet but hey, it was a view.

College – Kearney State for a four year B.A. degree.  I was well on my way into pre-med when I figured out that I really wouldn’t enjoy poking around people’s innards for the rest of my life.  Yuck…

Daughters – had three of ‘em – plus one son.  All with families and doing well.  (It’s a father’s duty to say it that way and not go into any of the rocky details.  You understand…)

EWO – That stands for Electronic Warfare Officer.  That’s what I did on the BUF’s.  (Refer to “B” above)

Fat – Yeah, I’ve put on a few pounds since high school but honestly, I’m proud to say that I’m still only weighing in at %&%$#^& pounds.  (Sorry, this danged PC messed up again.  It’s been having a lot of problems with numbers lately.)

Grandpa – That’s me – about 12 times over at last count.  Cool!

Hair – I’ve been losing quite a bit of it on top – and it certainly is a lighter shade than it was way back when.  So I make up for the loss with the pony tail and full beard.  (Who me… independent?  OK… weird… whatever…)

Itch – No, I don’t have one right now but I do remember the time I was plastered with mosquito bites after messing around along the Platte River.  Dang…  (And no, I wasn’t “messing around” messing around.  I was just messing around.  Nevermind…)

Jobs – Let’s see… there was the Air Force, Pacific Telephone, Standard Oil of California, Arizona Automotive Institute, TuneUp Masters, and Arizona Department of Transportation.  I finally wound up as a training supervisor in the fleet equipment section of ADOT.  A fun job – most of the time, anyway.

Kansas – Nope, never lived there.  I’ve driven through it a few times though.

Loy – the current love of my life and neat companion for the past eleven years!  And yeah, probably the only female in the world who would put up with my silliness…

Money – my sincere “thank you’s” to all the working people across this great country who kindly donate to the Simmons’ retirement fund.  What a great bunch of folks!

Nuts – love ‘em, eat ‘em.  Except for the pecans from our tree in the front yard.  Those are for the squirrels.  Hey, those tree rodents are mean suckers!  Besides, we have an agreement.  I don’t eat their nuts and they won’t live in my attic.  Fair enough…  (That really didn’t sound quite right, did it?)

Oology – the study of eggs.  No, I don’t do that – study eggs, that is.  It was just an “O” word that was stuck in my head.  And no, I have no idea why.  It’s just one of those things.  Geesh…

Pets – Five cats, two dogs and one obnoxious African Grey parrot.  (I wonder how the parrot got to be that way…?)

Quiet – That’s the way it is most of the time around this little ole town of West Plains, Mo.  That is outside-speaking of course.  (See “P” above…) And yes, I really do enjoy it.

Relaxed – that pretty much describes me – unless I have way too much coffee then I get a little sproingy.  (You’ll notice that I sometimes make up words as I go along.  I just like the sound of “sproiiiiinnnnngggy”.  I think I’ll use it again sometime.)  Oh, one more thing on “relaxed”.  I’m finding that I have more of a tendency, now that I’m older, to relax so much I doze off inadvertently.  Yes, the parrot can replicate my sounds of snoring.  She really is obnoxious…

South – U.S. – lived in Columbus, MS for a while courtesy of Uncle Sam.  Pacific – relaxed on the beaches of Guam (and did a few other things) also compliments of Uncle Sam.  Missouri – that’s where I am.  (I am now able to use the phrase “all y’all” in a semi-meaningful conversation.)

Training – that’s what I’ve been doing for a good bit of my life.  It started with Standard Oil of California and continued through my stay at ADOT.  All adult education – and mostly related in some way to vehicles and construction equipment.

U – OK, this is a tough one.  I could list “uniform” but I’ve already talked enough about that stuff.  “U”… upper…  hmmm… under… nah… hey, did you know that it takes Uranus over 84 years to make one revolution around the sun?  Look, that was better than my going into detail about my whitey tighties…

Vitamins – I now carefully check the label to make sure I am purchasing those expressly manufactured for the “mature” individual.  I can’t find though, if this relates strictly to age or if actions are a consideration.  And yes, I may get older but I refuse to grow up!

Web – as in “sites”.  Yeah, I have a couple of them I putz with regularly.  One is NuPathz.com that I set up to encourage thinking and promote techniques to help make our lives a little more enjoyable.  And yeah, I’ve also included a bunch of silliness so folks don’t overheat their brains trying to think about this stuff.  The other is fairlyuselessfacts.com that I established as a diversion – and to clear up some of the misconceptions that we frequently see popping into our inboxes.  Hey, nobody said that I was required to make a MAJOR contribution to society.  Geesh…

Xtra Terrestrial – I have been accused of being an alien from time to time.  I’ll consider that as a compliment.

Years – they keep piling up.  Every day I set a new personal record for the length of time I’ve been breathing.  I’ll do my best to continue this trend.

Zebras – Did you know that under the black and white hair, a zebra’s skin is black – and they are thought to have eyesight that at night will allow them to see as good as a cat or an owl?  (And you thought you wouldn’t benefit from reading this.  Silly you…)

Well, that’s my story.  Y’all take care of yourselves now y’hear!  May your days be filled with happiness and laughter...

Gene Simmons

AS some of you will remember, I graduated early to head off to Las Vegas to marry my baseball player. After the wedding, we returned to his home of La Mesa, California, to live with his parents until it was time for spring training. Skip's dad decided I shouldn't go because I'd take Skip's mind off of baseball, so I stayed here in La Mesa with them.  Strange, there I was, a married woman, but it never even entered my mind to argue with Skip's dad!

When May came along, I hopped on the train and went off to North Carolina, where he was playing at the time. However, before the season was over, we were headed back to California. He had developed severe arm problems.  Stupid manager the year before had let him pitch a 17-inning game just because he said he was OK. Sure, it was a no-hitter, but no one remembered ~t a year afterwards, and his arm was shot!

In La Mesa, Skip went back to college and working part-time for the La Mesa Recreation Department. I got a job as a typist-clerk. Then in January of 1959 our daughter Shari was born.

I got a job out at San Diego State University, and thanks to a very generous boss, I started going to college. I absolutely loved it.  The teachers at Lexington High had prepared me very well, and college was great fun. I was an English major and a history minor, with most of my electives in sociology and psychology.

In August of 1961 our son Ted was born.  I began teaching high school English.

Then in September of 1964 Skip went on to work full-time for the Recreation Department, eventually
becoming its director.

Skip and I lasted for 14 years, getting divorced in 1972. He remarried right away, and I enjoyed the single life for about eight years. (And I must say that the 70's were a great time for that!)

Then I met a sculptor/blues guitarist and singer, and we got married in 1980. My family wasn't exactly happy about that since he was ten years younger, just finishing grad school, and had hair past his shoulders! Oh well, we had a really beautiful wedding in an outdoor park. My kids were 18 and 20 at the time, but Tommy had custody of his 8-year-old son, so once again I got into homework, music lessons, etc., etc.

After 14 years that marriage was over. He moved to Arizona, where there's more opportunity for a musician, and I'm still here--still in the same house that I bought after my first divorce, still teaching high school English.

I go out with a dear friend two or three times a week to listen to his band. They play Celtic music, a lot of originals, and sometimes when it gets late--a little crazy rock-n-roll.

I also spend a lot of time with my kids and grand-kids. I'm so lucky that they live right here. Shari and I both like to run off to the movies together, share favorite books, go out to eat etc., etc. She's a stay-at-home mom with three kids--girls 10 and 12 and a son of 3. My son Ted is a La Mesa police officer, and I have discovered the joy of "ride-alongs" with him. I'd go out every week if he'd let me! It is so exciting The first night I went, we chased a stolen car and went 110 miles per hour! Love it! Both kids have really great spouses, too. I find it so much fun to do things with them all! One thing nice about having been a teacher here for so long--the grandkids think I'm famous because every time we go out, I run into one of my former students.

Twice a week I go with my friend from the band to Self Realization Fellowship. It's a neat church, very
eclectic, meditational. I enjoy it a great deal. It is so very peaceful--and I like the chanting.

I truly enjoy teaching high school English! This must be my 34th year at the same school, just a couple blocks from home. I don't know when I will retire. I'm at least thinking about the possibility of 2001, but I may well change my mind! It's hard to quit something you really love, and yet there are so many other things out there in the world just waiting to be done! So, who knows?

In the future I want to finish my book of family history, listen to lots more good music, take piano lessons, sign up for some interesting courses at the local university, do some volunteer work, travel. And, of course, attend the next CLASS OF 1958 REUNION!