Lani Johnson:
CLASS OF 1967
General H.H. Arnold High SchoolClass of 1967
Wiesbaden,
Lani's Story
Life
Living three teen years in Germany affected my life from then on. How about other Gen HH Arnold HS-ers?
OK, perhaps growing up a military dependant ALSO affected me: I can't seem to decide where to live. Have moved to at least three "permanent" homes in adulthood, and by now I know to remind myself about Life's plans.
Anyway, after high school graduation, I started college in Oregon, met, married, familied, and (eventually) finished an undergraduate degree -- all in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Two perfect daughters with a very nice man, although that marriage did end.
Across the country in the D.C. area and 10 years later, Chuck and I embarked on what is for each of us a second (and last!) marriage. We are both distance runners, even as our ages advance. He runs more miles per year than I do -- by far -- and I entertain myself with more active sports.
Three years into our marriage, and each self-employed from home, we moved to Oregon's coast (my Permanent Home #2), within sight of the Pacifiic Ocean, and idylled, if that's a verb, for the better part of a decade. One perfect August day, Elder Daughter married her dream guy at a nearby scenic ocean overlook, and the future has been bright for them ever since: talk about riding off "into the sunset!" One magnificent October day, in Medieval garb, Youn...Expand for more
ger Daughter and her guy vowed to love, honor, and cherish, serenaded by bagpipe.
Not long afterward, Chuck accepted a job, one Thursday afternoon, and began work the next Monday -- in Tucson, Arizona. I finished the community college teaching year, then joined him in July.
What a change, Astoria, Oregon to Tucson! And to add to the uproar, a month later, I began work on a degree at University of Arizona. Two years passed, leaving me with a masters degree in choral conducting and an untapped well of curiosity, followed by a cherished but now-underused (2020) doctoral degree.
In my middle years, I fell in love with the mountains, as I had with the ocean. Were I to compose a personal mythology, I think I'd make the chief god and goddess the ocean and the primordial mountain, then work on explaining how all the kiddie gods are the other mountains around the world. I still love hiking and backpacking, but age is beginning to tell. Luckily, I can talk myself into swimming laps and love yoga.
Anyone who's read so far is thinking, "All right. That's the sanitized version; what's the real story?" I have to say, you'd be even more bored with a plain recital of "and thens...." Plus every word of this is true.
Over -- out: email if you've wondered what happens to Air Force brats, class of '67, Wiesbaden, Germany.
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