Kathy Brown Nesler

I really wasn't sure. I knew I didn't have the money or brains for college. I guess I just wanted to get married and have children.

There are a lot of things I'd still like to do, travel being one of them, but my disability won't allow a lot of them any more. I am pretty happy with what I have done and I really don't regret any of my life.

I saw Jameson Parker ("A.J. Simon" of Simon and Simon) at a mall in Beloit. I didn't have the courage to go and talk to him.

Hawthorne, NV on a short term mission trip in 1980.

Classical, Contemporary Christian, Soundtracks, Oldies rock and roll (Billy Joel, Air Supply, Chicago, etc.) and folk (James Taylor, Carol King, Simon and Garfunkel, etc.)

I'm happiest when I'm with my girls and listening to them sing.

I have been married for over 40 years. We live in an apartment in Janesville, WI.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999. I have a more degenerative form of the illness. I have been in a wheelchair since 2003.

I don't drive anymore, so I am home a lot. I like to read, surf the web, watch old movies and television shows and play board games. I really love playing Euro games like "Ticket to Ride", "Settlers of Catan" and others like them.

I can't play my guitar anymore, but music is still a big part of my life. My oldest daughter sings and plays piano and my youngest daughter sings and plays guitar. I enjoy listening to them sing together. I also have a large collection of CD's. My favorites are classical, oldies rock-n-roll/folk, soundtracks, and contemporary Christian music.

I go to Foundation Bible Church in Janesville, where I am involved with their prayer ministry.

I remember standing outside the doors of the building waiting to get in each day. I usually stood at the doors facing the park. We could see all the kids smoking over there and wondered if they would finish their cigarettes by the time the bell rang. I remember standing out there and goofing off with Melvin Poole, Annette Pelt, and Jackie Oliver. When it was raining sometimes, yes sometimes, they would let us stand inside and wait.

Choir was my favorite class. Mr. Tweiten helped to make it that way. He worked us hard, but we had a lot of fun in that class too. I learned a lot about music theory from him.

Mr. Tweiten would always ask us, "Give me an A," hoping we could pick an A note out of the air. One day I put a great big letter "A" on a piece of paper and when he asked us for an A I handed it to him.

I remember too standing on the platform for the singing Christmas Tree. It was scary on the upper steps of that platform. I always thought we would have someone fall off of there and then we would have the killer Christmas Tree. We held real pine bows when we were up there. I am allergic to pine and standing still up there for the songs we sang gave me a lesson in endurance.

Mr. Merril always told those old stories about Pearl Harbor and WWII. I remember a story he told us about him being a share-cropper. He made history come alive for me. And who could forget his speech about the difference between Calvary and Cavalry. "Calvary is were Jesus died and the Cavalry is soldiers on horseback. If you put Calvary on the test I will check it wrong."

My locker senior year was in the annex. I don't know how many times I had to run from the main building to the annex with wet hair (showers after Gym) and the temperature outside was 10 degrees above zero (or colder). And because I could only get back to my locker twice during the day I ended up hauling a huge stack of books to every class. Everyone who had a locker in the annex should have gotten a medal of valor or something.

The beautiful marble stairs, the annex ceilings falling down, the tunnel between the buildings, the auditorium with great acoustics, the poor parking, and the park across the street, I remember them all, but My best memories will always be of the people who made the building come alive.