Sandra Cornelius:  

march 14 I suppose I have been putting bulletin board type stories here so today I will try and talk about what I have been doing since I left SHS. I attended Valdosta State after I left high school and stayed there my entire freshman year. It was a good school and I made the dean's list,but it was boring and way too conservative so I headed to Santa Fe and the French Quarter on SW 16th ave., Gainsville. AT the time SFCC did not have a campus so I had classes at the old Carlton Hotel, Lincoln High school, just to name a few. Things were going on then, Kent State, Vietnam, lots of revolutionary ideas. I made a high C average because there were too many diversions, so I went home and finished my AA at good old Madison. During my time at NOrth Fl., I dated Don Allen and we ended up getting married, way too young. We went to FSU and both of us finished. While there Don worked at the Brown Derby and earned his degree in hotel and restaurant. He was recruited by Restaurant Manag. services and they sent him to The Green Jacket in Augusta right across the road from the Augusta National.I worked waiting tables and went to graduate school at then Augusta College. I loved it there. We bought a new house and we had lots of friends. I worked with people from all walks of life. I even waited on James Brown a couple of times. The town was beautiful. I could have stayed there forever..... to be continued. As it turned out Don was hired by Club Corporation and off he went to Atlanta and the Atlanta City Club on top of the Equitable Bldg. OOH LA LA, it was a hot place. I went down and we got first class treatment with the chef and his wife for dinner. I had to stay in our house while we tried to sell it. I had just gotten a grad assistant job and I had a 4.0 in my masters program. I was waiting tables at The big Jacket(green jacket) on Washington Road and at Cashins' at lunch. I was busy, busy! They moved us to Montgomery AL. and then I worked as head waitress at Twikingham's and we settled there for awhile. Then on to the Relay House for Don in Birmingham, me at Baby Doe's on top of the mountain. When they tried to relocate us once again Don and I said No more, back to Tallahassee Don at Brown Derby and me at Maas Bros. Hectic goings on during that period. Then my mother saw an ad in the Lake City paper for an art instructor so I went to teach and Don stayed at his job.I stayed there for about 8 years and the separation killed my marriage. After Don and I separated there were numerous attempts at reconciliation and I found myself pregnant with my oldest son Jay, the divorce did happen and Jay and I lived in Lake City while I taught at Melrose Park. One day this guy walked into the gym where I was struggling to get rid of the baby fat.His name was Buddy and he was a bit younger but he was very attentive and surprise he was into horses so we stated dating. About a year later we married and he had to travel with his job while I stayed at my job for 4 more years. We had to move to High Springs and I had to take off from work so that I could travel and try to keep our family together. I was showing and boarding horses at our place in High Springs. It was too hectic with every weekend spent chasing points at one show or another. My youngest son was born and at the time we were hauling as many as 6 horses from Florida to Missouri to Missippi to Alabama.It was crazy and I regret not spending more time with my boys. Finally Buddy was working in Atlanta and flying in every 2 weeks to the little Gainsvile airport.We ended up in Georgia in 1997 and we haven't left since. I do not miss the love bugs and the horrible August humidity. I just miss my family and recently ...Expand for more