Debby M. Tewes

Still here

Had no idea what I wanted to be so life just kind of happened but its been interesting!

I got to scratch one off this list this past June and FINALLY graduated from college. Everytime I looked at my transcript, it described my degree program as the "Old BAG" program. After getting over the fit of giggles that this inspired, I figured out this referred to Old Bachelor of Arts General. My Major was Anthropology and no, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. My GPA could have been ever so much better if I hadn't blown off my Freshman year back in fall of 1969. Ah, live and learn.

Just came back from another trip to the Republic of Belarus (my passport will either be an object of scrutiny by the CIA or incredibly repetitive) but this trip reunited a young lady with her birth family in a small village near the Ukraine border. She was adopted by an American family in the Chicago area and this was a promise to her late American dad. Later, upon finding this village on a map, I realized we were about 10 miles from the exclusion zone of Chernobyl. I knew we were close but not how close. The village has no running water and the homes are like something out of a Russian fairy tale. A friend of mine in Belarus set out to find her family and banged on doors until he got the information from the "proper authorities". The reunion was emotional as she has 6 brothers and sisters she didn't know she had. Her birth parents are both still living and 3 of the children are still in the house.

Also got to tour an outdoor museum called Stalin's Line. Kind of amazing to be up close and personal with the military hardware that was probably pointed at us at some point. The Stalin's Line is where Stalin and Hitler signed a non aggression pact and Stalin retreated. Hitler's army invaded within a matter of weeks. The foxholes and anti tank posts are still in place.