Spouse:

I met my husband, Tim, in 1969 at a nightclub in Renton, Washington, where he was a bartender and I was a go-go dancer/cocktail waitress. Our first date was 7-20-69...the day of the first walk on the moon; we watched the historic event on the TV in the bar where we worked. We were married exactly one year later. We have been married for 43 years.

Family Life:

We have two daughters: Shani (42) and Tina (38). Shani is married and has three children: Raven (17), Alexis (13), Nico (11). Tina is a single mom with one daughter: Kira (12).

Education:

After EHS I attended BBCC for two years but transferred to EWSC in Cheney for one quarter then my roommate and I decided to drop out and move to Seattle and make our fortunes, yah right! Boring office jobs forced us to try go-go dancing—fun, interesting, great exercise but no fortune! We both married Army guys—we both divorced Army guys! I continued to work in nightclubs from 1966-1971 in the Seattle/Tacoma area. After our daughter was born in 1971, I became a beauty consultant for Fashion Two Twenty cosmetics. After that I was a free-lance clown doing children’s birthday parties, grand openings, and a Vet’s Christmas party. These three jobs were all while we still lived in Washington. In 1978 we moved to Minneapolis—Tim worked at SeaTac Airport in accounting and they transferred us. We thought we’d stay a year—at the end of that year he quit that job and we couldn’t afford to move back. For the next ten years I worked in several different delis and an antique store in Minneapolis. Then in 1988 at the age of 43, I decided to go back to school. I went to Saint Paul Technical College and got my degree in Mechanical Drafting—loved it, loved it, loved it—wish I’d done it 20 years before! Had I known how much fun Trigonometry would be, I’d have taken it in high school just to spite the nay-saying counselors who said, “Girls don’t take Trigonometry, just boys who are going into Engineering.” Bah! But God’s timing is perfect and from 1990 to 2001 I worked both direct and contract in a number of manufacturing companies using CAD and AutoCAD to draw everything from cardiovascular catheters to compressors to generators to sub-assemblies of huge grain separating machines—did I mention that I loved it? Then in 2001, I reluctantly ‘retired’ to do day care for our three youngest grandchildren. They were each just 10 months apart and all in diapers—it was like having triplets! But they were and are adorable and I was blessed to witness all their ‘firsts’.

Residences:

We have lived in Kent, Washington (1970-74), Federal Way, Washington (1974-78), and Minneapolis, Minnesota (1978-present).

Travel:

I haven't been out of the country since my youth and going to Canada to visit Grandpa Goostrey and aunts, uncles and cousins. But I have been to and through many states. Last summer Tina, Kira, Alexis and I drove to Washington for my class reunion in Cheney (where I went to school from 6th to 11th grade) and to Post Falls, Idaho, for a family reunion. We had a great time. We rented a Journey for our journey :)! On our way back we visited Mount Rushmore...awesome!

Hobbies/Interests:

I enjoy decorating cakes for my grandchildren’s birthdays. Some of the pictures of my cakes are on my Facebook page. I’m also into scrap-booking (Creative Memories) and if any of you have any 12 x 12 page protectors you don’t want, please email me—I also enjoy reading and I write a bi-weekly one page newsletter at my church to keep the ‘old’ people who can’t attend church informed about news and prayer requests of each other. I also enjoyed (and need to get back to) doing pottery.

EHS Influence:

Some of my favorite teachers were Mr. Salo, (Sr. Science), Miss Carter (Home Ec.), and of course the wonderful Mrs. Thompson (Sr. English & Drama). But my favorite teacher was and always will be Mrs. Goostrey (Art & U.S. History), although our classroom was at home. Mom was an amazing woman who raised four children ages 7, 5, 3 (me), and 2, by herself after the death of our dad in 1948. I learned so much from her. She used to say, “You never know what you can do until you try!” I inherited my artistic ability from her, as have my children and grandchildren.

Final Words:

I wish I could be there for our 50th class reunion. I have many good memories of Ephrata and Moses Lake. It was interesting and fun when so many people around town thought I was the foreign exchange student from Italy :) (Hi Carla) I still think of us all as 'kids'— thanks for the memories. Life in school was good—life after is better. I've always told my kids and grandkids, "Remember, 'Learning is a gift I give myself'." Never stop learning.