JEANETTE (BURLESON) MURPHY

Like all of my classmates, my life has had its ups and downs, but I am now living my childhood dream – a home in the country with a few acres and horses. We’re located in the tiny community of Bristol, which is a few miles East of I-45 North between Ennis and Ferris. The dream is sometimes hard for me to manage with Robert’s travel schedule – what with mowing, planting, caring for the animals, making all those property improvements happen (driveway, garage, barn, etc.) and working fulltime. But you bet it’s worth it when I can gaze up at those huge Texas stars at night and watch my horses peacefully grazing on Sunday afternoons while I’m cutting grass, cleaning stalls, or whatever. We love it!

After graduation, my secretarial skills opened doors and my education began. In 1965, I married Robert Murphy and being the amicable guy that he is agreed to move to Denton in 1968. He continued his education at North Texas so I could manage a Quarter Horse ranch for a most colorful entrepreneur. He introduced me to the world of champion cutting horses and the oil business. What a blast! Then it was on to Dallas and two years with a major cement manufacturer. In 1972 the opportunity of a lifetime knocked – an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur hired me. I learned about finance and a multitude of industries. He made politics exciting and conversations with the White House were commonplace.

During this awesome period, in 1979 to be exact, I became pregnant and acquired an Arabian colt, in that order. The parallels between raising and training a horse and a child are quite amazing. I practiced on Diamond Ser Bask+ and like to think I improved on Adam. They both turned out to be champions. In 1980 when Adam was born, my life changed as I expected it would. No more spur of the minute ski trips, weekend tennis parties, water skiing campouts, etc. We were now parents and Adam had become the center of our world. What I didn’t anticipate was that Robert would become unemployed. However, this was a blessing as Robert was able to care for Adam during that first year and form a wonderful bond. After that first year, I was allowed to work at home so I could care for Adam. Around that time, we moved to Duncanville and stayed for 17 years. It was a place where you always ran into someone you knew whenever you left home, the police would knock on your door if it got late and your garage door was left open, and they seemed to know everyone, especially the kids. I drove a really hot ’87 black Mustang convertible and since Robert was gone so much of the time, he wasn’t a familiar driver. One evening very late, he was out for a spin and the police pulled him over asking who he was and where he lived. When he responded, they just laughed and said they knew the car belonged up on Meadowglen and wanted to make sure that he hadn’t stolen it. Of course, when we started allowing Adam to drive the Mustang in 1997, we knew he was going to be under the police microscope.

By the time Adam was two, I knew that I wanted to continue being a stay-at-home Mom and resigned from my fabulous job. The next two years sailed by. It became necessary for me to return to work in 1984 so I returned to the oil and gas industry with another entrepreneur. That was a different experience. It took six years before I found the courage to walk away from that slave labor camp. Since I wasn’t looking for a high-pressure job with extensive responsibilities, I scouted around and began doing temp work at WFAA-TV and Bank One. In early 1991 I entered the banking world with Bank One’s ATM Operations Department making it very clear that I sought a low-key position. Six months later the juices started flowing again. From there it was on up the ladder to AVP/Project Manager for ATM Operations. After ten years I had survived four downsizings. Then in March 2001 my manager for the last ten years and I became unemployed. She landed a position at Genpass Technologies and opened the door for me as a Project Manager. Genpass is a processor of ATM and Debit Card transactions for financial institutions and also owns the MoneyMaker Network.

During the 80’s and early 90’s Adam, Basko and I spent our weekends traveling the U.S. and Canada on the horse show circuit and acquiring, breeding and selling other horses. We made quite a splash with Basko. He was such a winner that at times horses were withdrawn from classes when trainers saw that he was entered. He is still with us and at the age of 23 continues to prance around like a show horse, kick up his heels with his pasture buddy, and give us immense pleasure.

Adam has finally returned to Brookhaven College full-time while working part-time at a law office. Looks like he’ll be transferring to SMU next spring. We are so fortunate that God smiled on us with this child who has grown into such a wonderfully responsible man. There’s been a young lady in the picture for three years now, but no marriage plans. They share an apartment in Addison. Don’t ask !

Robert continues his work with Belfor International and the commercial restoration business. He has been on assignment at “ground zero” since October 11. He may be finished with this project and home for a short time around April 1, and will then return to New York for the next one.

God has blessed us and opened windows when He’s closed doors, even if we didn’t see the windows right away. He can also see around corners, I’m told. So, we’ve learned not to panic, trust in His plan for us, and enjoy each day as it comes.

I’ve truly enjoyed reading about everyone’s lives and can’t wait for all the huggin’, laughin’, stompin’ and good time we’re gonna’ have at this 40^th reunion celebration.