Jennifer (Jenni) Brown - Leraaen:  

Some classmates, those who don't know me very well, would probably describe me as quiet or remember me hanging out with the popular crowd in highschool. In my "old age", I've become pretty open and honest so I'll share something with you ... I was actually insecure, overwhelmed and just trying to fit in. My best friends would tell you I could be pretty shy, and was deathly afraid of being alone. I frequently used scarcasm as a cover up, but have always had a huge, loyal heart and a pretty good attitude about life ... especially considering my life!(What many people don't know is that I came from an abusive home. My parents divorced when I was three and my mother often left my older brother and younger sister home alone while she got drunk at the bars with the man who would later become my stepfather. When they weren't abusing alcohol and each other, we were the targets.) Shortly after graduation, I got as far away from Muscatine as I could. I spent the majority of the summer of '89 in New Mexico trying to salvage a relationship with my parents (my mother and step-father). I had been estranged from them since my junior year (I packed a suitcase 3 weeks after turned 16) and many don't realize they moved away from Muscatine our senior year. I quickly realized that summer we would never have a healthy relationship and became focused on my friends and preparing for college. My childhood had taught me I could only count on myself ... and a great group of friends who had stuck by me thru thick and some pretty darn thin ... I entered the University of Iowa in the Fall of 1989 majoring in Nursing just as my Grandmother Gen had. I had several good friends from Muscatine attending and I also made a lot of great new friends. That year I worked at the VA Hospital in the Cardiac Cath Lab and one day a week as a nanny to 1 yr old twins and a 3 yr old! A LOT of learning was crammed into that year! Shortly after Easter during my Sophmore year at Iowa, I received some pretty astonishing news. At that time, I was also taking some certification classes at Kirkwood and working bizarre hours, so I was pretty tired all the time ... I had gone to the doctor for what I thought was a routine exam. My tests had come back and based on the results, they were pretty certain I had cancer. Cervical Cancer. I finished the year in a fog and spent the majority of the summer in and out of the hospital undergoing procedures. The doctors seemed confident that we would beat it, but could not guarantee children. That fall, I made the agonizing decision to take the year off. Good thing! My Grandfather (the closest thing to a father I'd ever had) died unexpectedly and the cancer returned - the news of both devastated me and I hit rock bottom. I stayed in Iowa City and took the best possible care of myself I could. I worked as many hours as I could manage at a residential center for patients in the end stages of Alzheimer's Disease to take my mind off of mine. It was during that year, I was reunited one night with my future husband (we had met freshman year)and this time took a relationship seriously for the first time in years. I'm happy to say ... he's still holding on and the cancer has let go ; ). It has been 16 years with no recurrence. After Randy graduated from Iowa in 1993, we moved to Kansas City, MO and lived in the area for four years while h...Expand for more