Gerald Kessler:  

Life First of all, everyone knew me as Gerry, not Gerald. So don't be mislead by the formality. I attended Jay Stream Jr. High, and had almost two full years at Glenbard North before moving to Tennessee at the end of my sophomore year, 1972. It was quite a culture shock at first, but actually became a great experience. I even became the captain of the football team my senior year.(Pretty good for a former gymnast.) I am still in Tennessee after all these years, in a house on 5 acres, with four German Shepherds and some chickens, living close to the Smoky Mountains. I got married at the age of 20, getting married to my high school mountain sweetheart. We had two children together which are now 28 and 25 years old. The oldest, my son, is a nuclear engineer, and the 25 year old is my daughter who is a stay at home mom, with a two year old daughter of her own. This marriage to my high school sweetheart lasted for twenty years, until she decided the grass was greener on the other side. We had a very painful divorce in 1997, which was devastating to me, but I survived. Two years later I met a wonderful girl from New York, and we got married. She's a bit younger than I, but we made a great couple, and also had two more children together. So now I have two little girls ages 3 and 6, plus I adopted her son that she already had when we met. He was 4 years old when I adopted him, and he is now 12. So, altogether I have 5 fantastic children. Career wise, I have been in the electrical trade since graduating from high school. I joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, completed the apprentice program, and am considered a master electrician, journeyman wireman.I had my own business for almost 20 years, (Kessler Electric Service), and did quite well until the last couple of years when I had to file bankruptcy - also quite painful! Life is quite good, in sp...Expand for more