Jane McRitchie:  

I'm fascinated by the various tracks that our classmates have taken ¿ their travels, chosen vocations/careers, where they now live, and mostly how the way life in the mid-sixties formed careers and lives for so many classmates. People that you never suspected would go onto college have earned advanced degrees and here¿s my story: Still trying to figure out what to say about 45 years in less than 200 words but am known to be verbose. I'm not one of the retirees. We have a 10 yr old girl & a 15 yr old boy at home that have been with us since infancy, first as foster children and now adopted. In our first (blended) family my son is 40, the step-children are 39 (New York), 40 (Ireland), & the oldest would have been 43 but lost to cancer in 2004. Been with Tom since '76 when I moved back to San Diego after years in San Francisco. After graduating from Mesa in Social Sciences, I went on to SDSU majoring in party, then to SF State majoring in protest & the summer of love. I ended up a divorced middle class mom working for the post office. I moved back to San Diego in 1976 to a job cleaning sportfishing boats where I met Tom. We just celebrated our 33rd anniversary. He had Shelter Island Refrigeration, a business that specialized in sportfishing and tuna boats, keeping beer cold and fish frozen. The business also helped build yachts so we traveled to any place there was a boat yard or dock. That business was closed when we moved to Arizona. Life was a good ride in San Diego where we lived in Clairemont ¿ we did a lot of stuff ¿ jetskis, off-road race team(Baja 1000 style), travel to Mexico, legal secretary, Kelly Girl, and raise 4 kids. After those 4 were on their own, we wanted out of the city. So in 1991 we moved to Snowflake, Arizona (the true story is Mr. Snow met Mr. Flake on the road and changed the name from Stinson Ranch to Snowflake ¿ there is even a larger than life statue on Main Street) A small mountain town where life has been good - ranch life, skiiing, hunting for 1000 yr old pottery and arrowheads, cowboy golf, theater arts (my favorite avocation), building an adobe house from piles of dirt, 12 years as a CASA volunteer, then CASA staff, and most recently as a social worker. Went back to JC here - graduated with honors and national deans¿ list in medical transcription in 2003. What a change from the first time through school. We raise grass-fed (no hormones) beef and lamb for sale and will FedEx it frozen anywhere. Don't understand retirement - too much to do, too much fun doing it. We also have cottage industries of tooled leather Christmas ornaments and copper bell windchimes. (If anyone is interested just contact me - the grumpygrannygarden. Of course that¿s me ¿ couldn¿t let my attitude go unnoticed much less try to overcome my ADD and focus on one thing.) More questions? Just ask, I¿ll answer. Can't figure out why apostrophes turn in to upside down question marks, must have set m...Expand for more