Comments:
I have experienced a very different life than I anticipated when I graduated from High School!
I married a college sweetheart, Bob in 1960 and continuted my college education at night, until I finally received my B.A. degree from the College of Wooster. Briefly, I worked for the College for a few years after graduation. Over the years, we changed houses 16 times and lived in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Sao Paulo Brazil and London, England. The Sao Paulo Brazil and London residences were for over 5 years. Sao Paulo is not Rio and we found that the whole family had to learn Portuguese immediately to get along well, including such basic things as grocery shopping and medical care. Living in Barzil made me very aware of what it must be like for immigrants entering America with no language skills, how difficult it is learning these language skills in adult years, and the poverty struck me as something I could never imagine existed in the world. While it was a difficult assignment, our children benefited from being exposed to an entirely different culture (as did I) and learning a second language, easy for them,hard for me, and it changed their lives as well as broaded their view of the world. London, of course, was like winning the lottery! In between these moves, I because a building contractor and worked for 10 years as a partner in a construction company. That too, was a challenge as a woman.
In these later years, living in Florida, especially my county where 50% of the children are on free or reduced lunch programs, I have become deeply involved in children's services. If you walk the beach, you can't imagine the poverty that is here, but once I discovered the reality behind the glitter and the needs of children and adults, many of them immigrants, I have found a true profession and passion for myself in the nonprofit world.
We have 5 grandchildren and are grateful every day for our health and our friends, many whom we knew on our various overseas assignments or from other states and who also moved to Naples, Florida for the winter months. Coming to the reunion for me was very special. I had not been back to Poland because my father died in 1964, my mother sold the house, and there was no real reason to return. This trip for me was wonderful and I was so happy to revisit the past and see and spend time with my buddies! Thanks to all who made the reunion possible!
