Hello to all of my fellow 1962 Jones classmates!  .

 

Before I proceed, I would like to share these thoughts with you.  ALL of us have grown, changed, and become different people, to some degree, from high school days.  You may think you have no great accomplishments to share with others.  We have all accomplished survival, and that’s not always an easy task. That’s enough for us to want to see you.   I encourage you to come join us. You don’t have to know everyone.  I certainly don’t. You will see how important YOU are as a person when you come, no matter the circumstances of your lives.

 

Having said that, I begin as I joined all of you at Jones in November of 1959.  Being the daughter of a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer, I lived in California, Virginia, Maryland, then the U.S. Territory of Hawaii (in 1953-1957, before it became one of our United States), and back to Maryland before my father retired to Houston.  All that travel took me to MANY schools, some were good, some were terrible.  My street knowledge was widening; my first day at Jones proved to be quite a culture shock.

 

Not having had the opportunity of going through all 12 grades of school with my classmates as many of you have, I felt as if I had been thrown into the middle of a whirlwind where I was to either sink or rise to the surface and survive.  I did survive and it was a constant struggle.  Because of my earlier schooling, I didn’t have the grades to be in many of the organizations that others of you enjoyed.  I stood on the sidelines and watched with great interest.  I have a great memory for most of your names but did not get to meet and know most of you, personally.  My favorite activity at Jones was watching the pep rally every Thursday morning.  I could participate in that and it didn’t involve staying after school at the end of the day.

 

None of my previous schooling was going to allow me even the most remote hope of going to college.  I was in a big predicament – what do I want to do with my life after Jesse H. Jones.  Carolyn Sundstrum told me about Southwestern Business University and a representative came to call.  I took an Executive Secretary course and got my first job two weeks later.  I worked at American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation (since renamed American Standard) for five years.  For one year after that, I worked at Storm Drilling Company.   My job terminated there and for 32+ years, beginning 1969, I worked at Texaco Chemical Company. We were sold to Huntsman Corporation. I continued working there as Asst. Office Manager, until I was laid off in September 2001.  Being laid off/retired has posed many challenges as well.  I’ve been trying to cover my losses and move on.  Soon, I must begin all over again, to look for a new job a lot closer to home.  Should be quite interesting!

 

I met my husband in the Civil Air Patrol in 1961.  Our own Nancy Logan introduced me to CAP where I was a member until well after my husband Mitch and I were married. In October, we celebrated our 38^th wedding anniversary.  We have grown up together and there have been many challenging times.  We chose not to have any children but many animals have come into, passed through, and are still coming into our lives.  I’ve always loved animals of every  kind and during the brief times we share their little lives with them, we have learned just what wonderful creatures God had created with their being.

 

That about covers it for me.  Tell us about yourself.  You are important and WE CARE!

 

I HOPE SOMETHING I HAVE SAID WILL MAKE YOU TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH AND COME TO THE REUNION!