Sandra Florentino:
CLASS OF 1970
Lakeview High SchoolClass of 1970
St. clair shores, MI
Elmira Elementary SchoolClass of 1964
St. clair shores, MI
North Shore Elementary SchoolClass of 1964
St. clair shores, MI
Ridge Elementary SchoolClass of 1964
Ridgewood, NJ
Manito Elementary SchoolClass of 1964
Oakland, NJ
Sandra's Story
Well...here I am STILL working at Walgreens (it will be 34 years in November) and if I make it to retirement at 66, I'll be working another 9 years at least. I expect I won't get to retire until I am 70!!!
My son Jason and his girlfriend Krystal gave me my first grandchild, Layla Rose Florentino, on Oct. 10, 2008 and then they got married on May 1, 2009; they are currently planning their "wedding" for May 1, 2010. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful daughter-in-law. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a gramma!!! (Mind you, we all live together in my townhome of 946 sq. ft. with my 3 cats and my son's 1 cat!0.
My parents are doing as well as can be expected for both being 78 this year; they just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on July 21.
For as many years as I have lived away from St. Clair Shores or New Jersey, what I miss most is the trees (don't laugh so hard, please!). Here in Colorado, some of the trees may be the same but they don't look the same. I truly do love living here, even if my "sausage legs" don't do well with walking or hiking long distances. (I have been in retail since 1969, and my poor legs are always screaming at me now---especially my knees! Standing in one spot for too long as a cashier started it and now even though I move around more, the floor is still concrete. Maybe I was dumpy before, but now I am clumpy...
Retired 8/2/11 after much thought and too many company changes. Based on my life after that, I think it was for best. My son and his wife moved out of my house after about 4 years, lived on their own for awhile before moving to Chicago due to my son's job promotion. My grandson, Conor Rhys, was born in Chicago 8/1/13. I mostly know him through Skype. They are on their way to Springfield, Il. thanks to my son's new promotion to District Manager at Spring Mobile. Since I have had their dog here with me (the dog ran off the week they were moving to Chicago thanks to an open door in 2013), the hope is Jason will be able to come out to pick up not only the car my dad is no longer going to drive but also take the dog back to his family. My mom passed away on 7/27/14 in her sleep, so I am Dad's caretaker; I also help with my brother, Ken ('71); and I am my baby sister Marcia Brecker's ('74) biggest cheerleader as she struggles to recover from a debilitating stro...Expand for more
ke she suffered on 1/5/14. Ah, Life.
2011-The Year of the Rabbit
This is September 8, and I have been retired from Walgreens a little over a month. The decision was financial as much as anything else. Not liking staying at home much, BUT I did pay off all debts that needed to be done, got myself a brand new car and now getting ready to invest the rest before my time is up for the year. I decided yesterday that I would hopefully go back to work in November and start over with Walgreens. I have great benefits as a retiree, but I miss work. My son and his wife are finally moving at the end of the month, with my granddaughter, their cat and dog, so my cats will have their house back again, I will have MY house back again. The only thing I am doing now is taking my 80 year old mom down to Texas to visit my sister and her bunch; there are twin great-grandsons that my mom has been wanting to see, plus 3 great-granddaughters. We will be gone close to 2 weeks, and hopefully the weather both down there and here in Colorado will cooperate.
I am watching 60 approach, and I just laugh. I don't feel 60, although my poor knees would have anyone believe otherwise. My original plan was to maybe work until 70; then I figured I'd be okay up to the required 66. Up until I did retire in August, I pretty much figured I'd just opt out at 62 and collect my Social Security (if there is any to be collected). Maybe this break will give me the renewed strength to just keep going until whenever. I am the mistress of my own destiny, after all.
While I am my parents' caretaker, they are still able to take care of themselves (Dad turned 80 on July 30, Mom on Sept. 5, and they celebrated 60 years of marriage on July 21---they have known each other since junior high!!!), although they don't do as much driving now. I have been taking trips with my mom the last 5 years or so; Dad doesn't like to travel anymore. Part of my reason to retire this year was to kind of spot-check on things I might not have been paying attention to from my parents between work and the drama that is having your only child, your son still living with you and suddenly you get the girlfriend-who-becomes-the-wife and the baby all in the space of nearly 4 years!
The kids have been married just over 2 years (May 1) and Layla will be 3 on October 10.
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