Donald Herb:
CLASS OF 1985
Lebanon Union High SchoolClass of 1985
Lebanon, OR
Donald's Story
Hey everyone, how's it hangin'? Who got rich? I know it wasn't me. After high school I went to PCC for a year, then dropped out so I could buy a car because I was spending 2 hours a day on the bus. I intended to go back after a year, but my parents told me if I wasn't going to school I couldn't live at home. So I moved out and rented a house in Hillsboro with my brother. After about two years, my brother moved out, and I had a live in girlfriend who had been recently divorced. She didn't make much money, and had a son whose father wouldn't pay child support. This put a major strain on my finances, after about a year, my funds dried up, and I reluctantly moved into a workshop in the backyard of my parents. This came to be refered to as the cave. After about another two years, I moved into an apartment with another brother of mine. This was a challenging time, because my brother ended up unemployed most of the time, and again my finances were strained to the breaking point. It was at this point that I met my ex-wife. I went to a bar that my brother was at to get some money he owed me before he spent it. She walked in to get something to eat, and someone we were with knew her and asked her over. Long story short, we moved in together after about 2 months, and a year later we were married (even though I had made myself a promise that I wouldn't marry a girl I met in a bar). A year after that, my son, Matt was born. When we went in for the first ultrasound, they found a tumor on my wife's ovary. While 5 months pregnant she had surgery, and it turned out to be malignant. The doctors said that it was a very slow growing type of cancer, and it was a miracle that she even became pregnant. Also, if she hadn't have had the ultra sound, she probably wouldn't have had any symptoms until it was too late. That is why my son is named Matthew. It means messenger of God. Later on, obviously, she filed for divorce. She had recently gotten new job, and was making good money. She waited until I had just paid the bills, and my bank account was empty to retain a lawyer. It turned out she had saved a bunch of money from her 401K to do just that. She also said that if I tried to get half the marital assets concerning ownership of the house, she would do whatever it took to get sole custody of our son, but if ...Expand for more
I let her have it straight out, she would let me have joint custody with no fight. So, with the way courts view custody issues, I thought joint custody was worth it, but since I was out of money, that meant I was back at my parents. This time, however, they were much more understanding. When my son was 5, my ex took a job in So. Cal. which put another strain on me. I was working swing shift at the time, and wouldn't have been able to fufill the obligations of a parent with a young child in school, so reluctantly agreed that he should move there to live with her. It was fortuitous, because while there, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It turned out that one of the top three pediatric neurosugeons in the country was at Millers Children Hospital in Long Beach. I went down there, and basically lived in his room in the pediatric hem-onc ward for around a month. Talk about a depressing place. But these kids are so amazing. They face such adversity with more courage than I could ever have. I also gained a great respect for nurses. They are truly unsung heroes. I'm amazed that they can do that job with smiles on thier faces. I then stayed with my ex for three months in So. Cal. while my son had radition treatments and physical therapy. I came back a changed person, and glad I was divorced from his mom. I think the only good thing about So. Cal. is the radio stations. Shortly after this, his mom decided to quit her job and move back here to Aloha. Then when Matt was 6, he began complaining of pain in his neck. Since this is one of the symptoms of a brain tumor, I became terrified. I took him to the doctors, and it turned out that as a result if the surgery and subsequent radiation therapy, enough of his skelatal structure was gone that "his head was falling off". Normally the skeleton holds the head upright, but for him, it was his muscles. This lead to another surgery to fuse his skull to his neck, which took place on his 7th birthday, another hospital stay, and a long time in a halo. So as you can read, I've had some serious times in my life since high school. I guess though that all of that has made me the person I am today. Appreciative of the little things, because I know things can be much worse. I'll try to put the rest down later, because that only leads to about 5 years ago. ttyl.
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