Debra Jensen Lamson Roberts:  

I hit this site several months ago and just didn't stop long enough to really see what was happening here. It is amazing that after all these years of thinking that you would never see any high school friends again ever as long as you live and then in one day you find that there are alot of folks out there, wondering the same thing. Overnight, your hit with names and faces of people that sound like you should know them and you have to get your old high school annual out and you go Yea! I know you! I felt like I had friends again. I haven't had time for friends for so many years because of my job. how fun is this! So with that said, I guess it is time that I told my story. Since I graduated in 1971 I went off to college to Boston Mass and went to an all girl college. I promise it was not boring in any way what so ever. I think they shipped every crazy nut case from around the country to this school because these girls were freaks. Boy did I think I knew everything, I found out I had lived a pretty sheltered life at that point. (These are stories for another day) It really was a great stay there and I loved the big city, after having lived in Oscoda it was pretty overwhelming at first. The best part was seeing some great concerts and hitch hiking around beautiful New England with some really adventurous girls. After college graduation I had to decide to stay or come back home. I did neither..the president of my college was married to a woman from Alabama and they talked me into moving south where I could continue my education and all my college credits would transfer. I also got a reduced tuition because of her connections to the college I transfered to. (Saved me alot of money)! I transfered to Athens Alabama and what a cultural shock that was! I was woke up each morning by a hugh rooster out my dorm room window, and this was in downtown. The place was beautiful when the cotton fields were in bloom but you could see a cow or two in the middle of the road stopping traffic on any given day. I remember picking some cotton and sending it home to mom and Shellie. But not before a policeman stopped me for trespassing and wanted me to pay my fine with a "yankee dime" (a kiss). The worst part about the south was living in the bible belt. The county was a dry county and when my family came to see me they were stunned that you couldn't buy a beer. You had to travel great distances, sometimes to another state to do so. Something that I will never forget when I first moved there was the courthouse was in the middle of the town. The water fountain in the courtyard in 1973 still had a sign on each side, one side said "whites only" you can guess what the other side had. We would go to Tennesee to a small club to hang out on weekends and the front of the place was for whites only while the blacks had to go to a room at the back of the club and order drinks from a small window. They didn't even have a waitress. I always wondered what their side looked like, how funny is that. After graduation from Athens College I went to work in a health club while I waited to get a teaching job. I met my first husband Pat Lessor and settled into married bliss. Later I taught school for awhile and soon realized I wanted to do more so I went into Recreation where I could teach the classes I wanted to and work on being healthy at the same time. I was a recreation programer and I became a swim coach, the job I am most known for in Alabama. I worked in Athens for 10 years worked my way up to Recreation Director the last four years I was there. I also took time to have my first child in 1984. I had a son named Aaron. He has been a true joy to...Expand for more