Sandra Dusel:
CLASS OF 1977
Meadowbrook High SchoolClass of 1977
Richmond, VA
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State UniversityClass of 1982
Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech - EngineeringClass of 1982
Blacksburg, VA
Sandra's Story
Life
After MHS I went to VPI . Majored in Mechanical Engineering. Put myself thru school by co-oping at GM and the Federal Gov't. Accepted a job at Xerox in Rochester, NY after Graduation. Worked as a design engineer there until major layoff in '94. Loved working there, until the atmosphere changed and standards dropped. Worked as a contract engineer for a bit then for a technical foam company for a year in technical sales. Hated it. Did contract work then got married in '97. 10 months later had a baby girl named Lyta Cordelia Dusel.
That's the quick version. I really loved working at Xerox back when. Those first few years I was working 6 days a week and long days. I got overtime pay for some of it. So, after 11 months I bought a townhouse, and got a great dog named Kibbles, who I had for 16 years. After 4 years when my craving for land ownership got the best of me and I bought a Cape Cod in the Burbs. This was 1987 and I was still working mostly 6 days a week and long days.
I spent ten years there fixing up the house growing a garden and exploring my new State. It's beautiful, mostly rural and has fabulous gorges and waterfalls, lots of water activities and Rochester is a mini cultural Mecca. There are great museums here and a fabulous Professional Theater as well as top notch music schools.
So , here I was a single woman in mid-life with just about everything I ever wanted; a great job, a great social life, great friends and a lovely house that was comfortable and perfect for entertaining. I even spent 3 wks in Australia with my best friend Dianne. We had a Xerox Singles group that went out about every 2 weeks. We had picnics and went dancing or to movies or had a party. We were at this dive bar on the shore of Lake Ontario when I saw this nice looking guy across the room. In the finest High School tradition I sent a friend over to find out who he was. That is how I met my husband Pete an electrical engineer at Xerox . He had this beautiful Siberian Husky named Nikki, and great legs from bicycling. In 3 months time we were inseparable. Our lives just sort of wove themselves together, and it wasn't long before I was spending weekends working at his tree farm. 5 years after we met we decided to get married and while we were at it maybe we could have a baby. At Thanksgiving we were engaged , told my parents at Christmas, got married May 10th,1997(yep I was 38) and a few days later we bought a house and several acres on the shore of lake Ontario. By the second week in June we knew we were having a baby. We had 2 houses to sell and a fixer-upper to move to and I just wanted to throw up and sleep. Well, no more career for me. We've bought more acres and rent the land to an apple farmer. Lyta keeps me busy sewing and exploring the world all over again. She is a real cutie and has a great personality. She seems to be trying a new activity each year she liked dancing but moved to gymnastics , played the flute and is now an avid skiier. After 9/11 happened Pete got called up for military duty, so we all moved to Charlottsville VA for a year. He was in the reserves in Military Intelligence. He is now a retired Colonel. We all ski and Pete rides long bike rides. I run the tree business (technically I am Corporate Vice-President)and take care of the house , lawn and gardens. I've taken up woodturning and have a big lathe. I also sew like a demon, clothes and quilts. We love to travel and our new fav place is Hawaii. Aloha! I've added quilt teacher to my resume lately.
We have had a rough time the past 16 months. My story sounds all rosy and happy, but life has it's ups and downs, and we are getting older. In November of 2008 Pete was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer, which they rushed to surgery in Jan '09. As the months went by and he recovered from the surgery we found out that they hadn't gotten rid of all the cancer. So he has had hormone therapy and radiation therapy. We won't know if it is all gone for some months <now being Feb'10>. Right after Xmas'08 I began to be rather ill and went through a bunch of tests and needed a hysterectomy, since this wasn't urgent I had to wait til Oct 1st '09. Meanwhile I have a sick husband and I'm seriously anemic and have an 11 year old girl to care for. But I'm doing great now. Just keep Pete in your thoughts and prayers. He's a great guy, very smart and lots of fun. With him I have: rediscovered sailing (sailed in Michigan when still at Tech), learned and loved scuba, traveled, been involved with Cool Army stuff, ridden a tandem bike many miles and lots of other things. Our biggest project is raising our daughter Lyta. She is smart, clever and funny. She has strawberry blond, thick curly hair bright blue/green eyes and dimples. She is over 5 feet tall and as cute as a button inside and out. Nobody told me that motherhood was soooo cool. I'm also "puppy mom" to a rescued Husky named Wolfie. He is a really sweet dog who goes with me everywhere, mostly because he has sep...Expand for more
aration anxiety and can't be left alone. Fortunately, he likes being in my Explorer in his crate, so I just shut him in and can leave him for a couple of hours. So, we now have 7 acres on the shore of Lake Ontario and our nearest neighbor is a half mile away. We keep an old 34 foot sailboat 20 miles away in Sodus Bay. Pete rides really long bike rides, 120 to 800 miles at a time(yes the kind you pedal). We have stuff like old cars, and a backhoe, and a couple of tractors. One tractor has a snowblower on it, but I have to drive it backwards! Our driveway is about 1/4 mile long, but used to be 1/2 mile long. Lyta doesn't realize that other kids don't drive backhoes! Or dive off the back of sailboats! I may have gotten old and fat and arthritic but I still live life to the fullest. It just takes longer and Advil, and Ben-Gay. Post on my bulletin board, I'd love to hear from you. 4Feb2010
It is now January9, 2011 and I have recovered from the holiday season. Pete had another great check-up in late December. Just over a year since the end of radiation and so far so good. We are actually making plans for the future again. It will be 4 more years til we can really call it a cure, but we are 20% there. Each good check-up moves the horizon out further. I'll really be happy when the check-ups are 6 months apart instead of 3 months.Then happier still when they are a year apart!!
June 2011- Pete has had another great check-up!! Life is looking good now.
August 2011 - Pete has gone to France to ride his bike In Paris-Brest-Paris, an 800 mile or so bike event, again. He goes every 4 years
Sept 2011 - Pete did well in France and has just gotten another good checkup. Lyta started 8th grade,wow! She is joining the Drama Club. I've been the coordinator of the Ontario Piecekeepers Quilt group for a couple of years and we joined with the local Garden club to do a joint show. It was cool. I should post pictures. I do mostly art pieces and miniatures, but some wall hangings and bed quilts as well.
February 2012- OMG life has it's ups and downs. Last fall my 13 year old daughter got a virus that kept getting worse and she ended up with a mild case of pneumonia. About the time she was getting better I started to cough. After a week of getting worse I went to the doctor and was given an antibiotic for bronchitis. I got worse. By the next Thursday I had pneumonia in both lungs so bad that I was hospitalized for 4 days on IV antibiotics. About the time I was starting to get better my husband Pete started coughing. The doctor quickly got him an antibiotic, he got better then got worse. He ended up in the ER with uncontrollably shaking legs, fever, and sweating profusely. Also his skin felt "funny", he had become hyper sensitive. After losing the ability to walk and urinate in the ER they called a neurologist and decided that his spinal cord was being attacked. They admitted him to the ICU because they were afraid he would stop breathing! He finally started to get better 3 days later. They let him out 8 days later and he could walk again!. Not well, but he was recovering. He was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis. That comes with a 33% chance of recovery. He has recovered about 95% and is riding his bike 100 plus miles at a time again. Dodged another bullet!
The best news is that while doing well in school my daughter is also acting. She was just in Disney's new junior musical "Little Mermaid". She was a sea creature and in the "Hot Crustacean Band", playing the fake trumpet. She was the best fake trumpet player ever!!
Feb. 2013 I'm pleased to sat\y we had a rather uneventful year!! Last summer Lyta had a great time in theater camp and performed very well in their final show. Pete is still doing well and riding his bike. I had a banner year in the garden after a dry start, and ended up with lots of pickles, tomatoes and tomato sauce canned, I also froze a lot of veggies. We haven't taken any big vacations in a while but Lyta and I took a bunch of day trips last year - Genesee Country Museum, water parks and the zoo to name a few. We expanded our orchard this year and plan to add blueberries and kiwi next year. Pete is still having good checkups , so we are getting ready to build a bid workshop for our woodworking. I'm looking forward to having better access to the lathe. Lyta is in the High school production of "West Side Story". Yes, that means my baby is in High School. How time flies. Just attednded an uncle's funeral and saw the rest of the siblings and my cousins. I don't see them often at all and they are looking old. I had thought it was just me!
Lyta just finished doing "West Side Story" at her High School. It was great. She was only in the chorus but she was sort of featured in the dance scene and did a great job. Cast party last night and tonight she and I start rehearsals for a melodrama together. Yes, I'm getting back on the stage after 36 years. Hope I remember how!
PS, I'm on Facebook, where notes and friends are free!!
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos
