Maria McKie:
CLASS OF 1964
Miami Jackson High SchoolClass of 1964
Miami, FL
Maria's Story
I have 3 step-children (2 boys & a girl). I helped my husband Bob raise the youngest since he was 10 yrs. old when we got married & he came to live with us shortly thereafter.
We have 1 granddaughter & 1 grandson in the Albany, NY area and 2 granddaughters & now 2 great-grandchild in the WPB, FL area. Oldest granddaughter just graduated from RPI & will be going into medicine. We are very proud of her. Our youngest grandchild just graduated from H.S. & is looking forward to her 18th birthday later this summer & pursuing her dreams.
We lived in Palm Beach County for 32 yrs. & moved to Dunnellon (near Ocala, FL) when we decided to downsize 5 yrs. ago. We had been taking care of my mom and Bob's oldest sister & brother-in-law for a few years. I was still working full time & helped Bob as much as possible with their care. When they died (within a 6 month period) we re-evaluated our situation, sold the big house on 5 acres, built a house in Rainbow Springs (on 1 acre), resigned from my job & started sewing & catching up on reading, watching movies, etc. that I'd put aside for far too long. Have also done a bit of traveling (knee problem permitting). We celebrated Bob's 80th birthday last year with a cruise to Alaska. Loved it up there. Great scenery, friendly people & lots of nature to see.
The one person from my H.S. past who I'd most like to see again ...Expand for more
is Diana Valdes (Salinas), because she was the first person who helped me with my English, encouraged me through high school & kept in touch with me for a lot of years.
The teacher I miss the most is Mrs. Norman (algebra). She went to bat for me when all the Spanish speaking students were being put in a "remedial" class & I didn't want to spend all day speaking Spanish & learning a bit of English. I wanted to learn better English & was getting good grades in most of my classes. Mrs. Norman & Mrs. Abrams (homeroom) pushed to allow me to stay in my regular classes & they asked my classmates to help me with pronunciation & spelling whenever I asked for help or clarification. They were a Godsend.
Bob gave me a Janome sewing/embroidering machine when I "retired" & I've been busy making all our drapes, valances, bed-skirts, bedspreads, plus a few fun projects besides having had 2 knee arthroscopic surgeries 2 yrs. in a row. In Nov. 2008 I had a complete knee replacement & have been thru a lot of therapy, etc. to regain my strength. The whole family seems to want personalized embroidered towels and such so as soon as I can get back to my sewing/embroidering I will continue with these projects.
The best therapy has been the water aerobics & now I get to do the exercises at home. It's fun. I'm looking forward to feeling "normal" again, whatever that may be....
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