Lisa Harris:
CLASS OF 1973
Seeger High SchoolClass of 1973
West lebanon, IN
Purdue UniversityClass of 1978
West lafayette, IN
Lisa's Story
Life
In May 1973, I had no clue what I wanted to do after graduating Seeger. I had been dating Steve Fisher all 4 years of h.s. & didnt want to leave the area because of him, so I worked for my cousin Doug Cripe at the photography studio in Attica for a year. I DID love the photography job but I couldn't continue working for a $1 an hour (DOUG!!!) Back in '74, minimum wage was $1.68 an hour.
I quit working for Doug but was still ambivalent about what I wanted to do career-wise & frankly felt kind of lost staying behind after my two best friends went off to college. The fall of '74 I found myself half-heartedly taking art classes at Purdue & slaving at Mcdonald's on campus, making the BIG BUCKS, $1.68 an hour! I was living in a small $38 a month room in a house full of hippies, cheap even by '74 standards. I was 20. I broke up with Steve during this time...
Most of the time I stayed to myself, more of a circumstance than a choice. I didn't 'fit in' with my new artsy classmates who had already been educated from h.s. in the fundamentals of art; i.e. composition, perspective, technique, art history... blah! I was academically inept, ill prepared for college even in this Indiana 'cow' town. My h.s. friends by this time had moved on & out of my life...I was not replacing them.
I met my biker-wanna-be husband, Jeff, late 1975. He left a marigold on my front doorstep, how romantic is that! It was a very rocky marriage. He was 19, had a drug & drinking problem.. & at 21, I still had my 'identity' issues. Times were rough, money scarce (booze is expensive), so I had to stop taking the art classes to go to work full time at Sears warehouse. I had my wonderful son Eric during the summer of 1978. I was 24.
My little sister Gina was killed in a car accident on Eric's first birthday. She was 17. I was devastated by her death & went into a deep depression. ...Expand for more
Her death gave me a changed perspective on life... & fueled the fire for my inevitable divorce. It was 1979.
I had developed and retouched pictures, worked in fast food, as a secretary, & had my 'useless' art background...Still grieving the loss of Gina, I was newly divorced & struggling to raise my son. At this low point in my life I needed Âmindless work. I chose to be a janitor on campus for the next three years while trying to sort it all out.
Sense of humor in tow, I made a comic strips in the late 70's.
I got remarried in 1982 to Brian. He is/was the total opposite of my first 'bad boy' husband, a rigid military/catholic type. We never had any children during this marriage but he adopted my son, Eric. We studied the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses & became very religious...altho being so shy, I never felt comfortable in the 'ministry'. I found a way to earn money from my art, finally, making & selling ceramics. Life would have been pretty decent except one faux pas. I had to run into Dr Urschel, & the sharp end of his scalpel. It was August of 1984, I was 28. He was attempting to correct my overbite. During the surgery, my teeth slipped out of the braces that were supposed to stabilize my jaw after the surgery. He also was going to move my chin back so it would not project too far forward. The surgery ruined my looks, i was allowed to heal with my jaw askew and my chin off center 8 mm and nerves cut. Most of my adult life & just about all my income has been spent trying to repair the mess he left me with. I have lost count of the number of reconstructive/plastic surgeries I have undergone. It negatively affected every aspect of my life.
Life goes on.... altho I did try to keep some of my old h.s. buddies in my life, most of us moved on. I find myself still struggling with depression and still unsure what I want to do 'when I grow up'.
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