Life after Saguaro
I spent four years in the US Navy as an enlisted sailor, then off to college for a BS in Biology. After graduation, I went back into the Navy through Aviation Officer Candidate School (remember the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman"? One of the Drill Instructors in the movie was an actual DI at AOCS when I was there) to become a Naval Aviator. I flew both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, mostly CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, and sang with the Naval Air Training Command Choir, where I was fortunate to perform at two Miss USA pageants and the World's Fair at Knoxville, TN, among dozens of other appearances. Through the years, I made 9 long deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and one to the North Atlantic (above the Arctic Circle.) I was run over by a bus on Feb 13, 1989, which crushed my right foot and tore most of it off. It took 14 operations over the next two years to rebuild my foot, and two years of physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
I was medically retired June 12, 1991. I bought and operated a marina in Alabama for several years, then moved back to Arizona, where I started a parasail business. On June 19, 1999, my parasail company set a world record for the longest parasail flight. We flew 264.04 miles in 10 hours and 3 minutes, smashing the old record of 91 miles. I switched careers to education, and earned an EMBA in Leadership at Grand Canyon University. I stayed in education for about 25 years, then did a stint as an insurance adjuster. Now, I am back in college working on a PhD in Christian leadership with an emphasis in Church Revitalization. Not sure what I will do when I grow up!
