David Yaeger:
CLASS OF 1975
Lindsay High SchoolClass of 1975
Lindsay, CA
David's Story
Part TWO:
So this is what's new in my life. My wife Bev passed away four years ago, leaving me to raise a little girl on my own. That has been a challenge and a blessing together. We've done many things, still travelling and having daddy/daughter dates a lot. She loves to ride horses with her best friend Lesy. They are nearly inseparable. I get a lot of eye rolling and stomping feet when I make Lindsay do her chores, but she is my constant delight.
Last year I met someone. The curious thing is we first met 26 years ago when I was an intern. Kim was a dietician in pediatrics then. We goofed around and laughed when we worked together and my memories were always happy ones. Later she became a pharmaceutical rep and started to call on my office 13 years later, so again we visited when she would stop in for a minute and catch up on little details. Last year we both began to take a serious interest in each other and began dating. Everything went really well and we soon decided to get married. We had a small wedding at a bed and breakfast inn on Fernandina Beach. My bride and daughter rode up to greet me on a horse drawn carriage. They were both beautiful and we said our vows on the porch. Now we are blending our lives together and it has been the most beautiful experience for me. Kim loves my daughter and treats her so well. They are bonding very well. At this time there are so many things for us to do. But, the second wedding was the best. We had our best friends and family memebers with us at the inn for the weekend, then we spent a few days at 2 Meeting Street Inn in Charleston. It was gorgeous! Our official honeymoon won't be until late August, the same week as my birthday. We can't wait, we are both so busy now.
This is my first update so I hope you enjoy being connected to my little blog here.
PART ONE:
Why not make this site interesting? Are you having as hard a time remembering names as I am? For those of you who remember me or are just curious (makes no difference) here's a synopsis of what's on my mind at this time.
After LHS I spent three semesters at COS knocking off general ed requirements on the cheap, good school and a great transition out of high school. I dropped physics which made me feel as if college was going to take a heavy toll on me. With some prodding I attended Point Loma College in San Diego (my favorite city in the world). That made all the difference in my life. The school is located on a fabulous cliffside campus. Maybe I was growing up, but seeing and hearing the Pacific every morning and up until the wee hours of studying definitely had a positve effect I'm sure.
I majored and got my bachelors degree in chemistry. While participating in a summer chemistry research program much time was spent discussing careers and the like with my classmates, a small but dedicated group, the chemistry bros. With much urging I reconsidered career paths and went premed, smart move. It made me spend an extra year getting biology pre-reqs out of the way. Studying for the MCAT made me crazy for a while, but all good things in life tend to be tha...Expand for more
t way. Turns out standardized tests have been good to me. The medical school admissions folks saw it that way too, so I packed my bags for Loma Linda University (about an hour northeast of LA).
Med school drained me physically. After being all that in college I was challenged in a way that had me asking myself what I was doing there. One of my classmates had a photographic memory and NEVER took notes! The rest of us did our best to absorb science like we never had before. Now I love learning how the world works, this was just about all a soul could handle. With God's mercy and providence i graduated. With that I had to decide where to do residency. Being newly engaged to a young blonde from Orlando the path was charted and out East we went.
Though I enjoyed delivering babies and working in the emergency department, pediatrics beckoned to me. Don't quite know how I got so interested in kids, but I made the best career decision I could imagine. Residency was a bear at best. Working eighty hours a week for $18,000 salary was masochism at its finest. There's a lot to learn in three short years. Amazingly I got my second wind, actually did well and was recruited by the oldest established pediatric group in Orlando. Shortly afterwards the pediatrics program moved to a brand new children's hospital.
I've been blessed with having superior partners in my practice and a gaggle of pediatric subspecialists at my beck and call. Orlando has just grown leaps and bounds since first moving here in l984. That's not all good, but it has helped a young pediatrician to get his practice together. Since then I've kind of been married to the community. You put down a lot of roots in medicine. I still love to visit California and get there once or twice a year.
My practice has grown to eleven physicians and two nurse practitioners. I'm third in seniority, but it doesn't really mean anything other than you've stuck it out a long time. This year was my twentieth in private practice, WHEW! Looks like another twenty years God willing. It's hard to imagine growing weary of this vocation. The children are always refreshing and if you like cute, warm and fuzzy . . . well that's my job. My first patients are in college now, what a strange feeling. Some families have become good friends over the years for which I am thankful.
There have been some very stressful times and I feel changed, but strengthened by all that has happened in my life. Attending a small high school has not been a hindrance in any way. The Valley helped me to get to my current situation and I have no regrets. Still I feel comfortable in the large, but not huge city of Orlando. Lindsay and I have theme park passes and we get out when we need to. She's traveled a lot in her life. I may make her nuts as a dad, but when you're twelve parents are just that way to you, remember?
I don't expect to get a membership to this site, but I feel reflective and wanted to leave something for anyone curious enough to read. Put something on your site if you get a chance. That'll make this whole classmates thing work out.
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