Happy Anniversary to Us.

Well, today is our 43rd anniversary. It's hard to believe that so many years have gone by. Trying to think back on what has happened over this time is a challenge, of course the reason for that is we are in our Golden Years and memory is a little short on some things. But to sum up our life together I guess I can touch on some highlights.

We were married at Immaculate Conception Church in Chicago, IL, January 30th, 1965. This is the parish that I went to grammar school at for 8 years. I was baptized a Catholic there, received my first Communion there, Confirmed there and graduated there in 1958. It's a beautiful parish.

Jim apprenticed at Commonwealth Edison in the Chicago area for 4 years to receive his journeymans card as a lineman for the power company. When we were trying to decide where we wanted to live and raise our family we were either going to move to WI or OR. Oregon won out and we packed up our station wagon in 1968, loaded our 2 children, Karen and Sandra, our dog Hondo and headed out to the great west. What a trip, we were not even sure if we were going to be able to get a job or not, but we did. Jim's first job as a lineman out west was in Vancouver, WA for Clark County PUD. While there, our son Michael was born, premature, his birth was in Portland, OR thankfully, because there is a great children's hospital there named Doernbecker and right after his birth, weighing only 2 pounds, he was rushed to Doernbecker Children's Hospital and stayed on the neo natal floor for over 3 months, until he reached his going home weight of 5 pounds. Miracle of miracles, he is now 38 years old and is over 6 foot tall and weighs at least 210 pounds. Go figure.

We rented a great home there on Alpine St for $150 a month. Made wonderful friends with Larry and Ellie Sefton, whom we are still great friends with, we love them dearly. We lived there for a year or so and then moved to Grants Pass, Or, where Jim now is working for Pacific Power and Light also known as PacificCorp as a lineman, he worked construction for 5 years there and then an opening came up in Klamath Falls, OR for a lineman, he applied for that position and got it and so from that time on we moved there, built a home in Keno, OR, raised our 3 children and stayed there until our retirement in 1998 for Jim and 2000 for myself, where I retired from Oregon Institute of Technology. I worked there for 14 years after leaving the county school system of 5 years and all was good.

Once we retired we sold our home, bought an RV and became full time RVer's. We had a wonderful life, traveled all over the United States and parts of Mexico, spent 3 winters in Casa Grande, AZ at Fiesta Grande RV Resort and from there went to other parts of the US. We ended up for awhile in Ft Lauderdale, FL at our daughter, Sandy's house, there we got to meet many of her friends, many of whom are in the yachting industry, she though is a contract flight attendant and has flown around the world more times than I can count, our son Michael also lives there, he is a captain on motor yachts, he has a 4 year old daughter, named Lily Kai, who we just adore and there in Lauderdale we have had some very interesting p/t jobs. Have to keep busy and keep up with the ever increasing economy. We washed yachts, cleaned the interiors, did horse sitting in Wellington, FL for very pricey jumping horses, sometimes 400 of them a night, then we moved to Okeechobee, FL and bought an RV lot on the rim canal of Lake Okeechobee at the Big O RV Resort. We have been here for 3 years, like it a lot, have many friends here, it's a very active park in the winter, so many things to do, but we also have a part time job at a local deli. It's the Ding A Ling Deli here in Okeechobee, we have a great time there, our boss Bruce and his wife Linda are great folks and we love them a lot.

We miss seeing our daughter, Karen, and her family Dave and the boys, Jared and Ryan. They live in Moscow, ID will be married 21 years next month, can't believe that and Jared being 19 now and Ryan 15, it just is very hard to believe so many years have passed by so quickly. We will see them this summer, also we will get to see her 2 scrapbook and stamp stores, yes, plural, stores, named Paper Pals Inc. We are very proud of her accomplishments. Lots of sacrifices here, I can tell you that.

So, that's it in a nutshell, well, I did forget to mention our 2 Shih Tzu's, Bandit and Amber, they are great, wonderful travelers and good company.

So, Happy Anniversary to us, I think 43 years is remarkable. It's been a trip!!!!!