Sue Rhodes Hedtke:
CLASS OF 1963
Freer High SchoolClass of 1963
Freer, TX
Southwest Texas State UniversityClass of 1965
San marcos, TX
Sue Rhodes's Story
Life
After graduation I went to SWTSU for two years...the "party school". And I did my best to uphold the college reputation. Married a guy I met in college in 1965 and he was shortly drafted....it was Viet Nam you know. Spent a couple of years in Berlin, Germany serving time in the Army. We were able to travel most of Europe even though we were poor as dirt. My husband made $176 a month; I had a job paying me 70 cents an hour and we had an apartment that cost $135 a month...do the math. Lol. We did see some amazing things though driving around in an old Opal that we paid less than $100 for. After Berlin it was back to Victoria, Texas where I have lived ever since. I went to work at The Devereux Foundation, a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children. I loved it and I loved the patients. My son, Kyle, was born in 1969 and a daughter, Christy, born in 1974. When my daughter was two months old I went back to college and graduated as a Registered Nurse after some of the toughest years of my life....college, working two jobs, and two little kids.
I started working at DeTar Hospital in Victoria while I was in nursing school and I worked there until January 2006 when I RETIRED!!!! That was after 31 years. God I'm old!!! I worked in Labor and Delivery and Intensive Care Nursery for 12 years and then was promoted to an administrative position with the Hospital Corporation which I held for 10 years. I tired of the management garbage (fighting the government and insurance companies) and decided to go back to caring for patients. I worked in the Intensive Care Unit for nine years and I loved it.
Last of 2006, after having to have some big time shoulder surgery - moving 300 lb patients around can be a bit of stress on the old body, I decided to retire while I was still young enough and well enough to travel and have some fun.
in 2007 we visited Costa Rica, Saba, BonAire and Isla Holbox. All diving trips except for Isla Holbox in Mexico which was swimming with whale sharks. It was the most awesome thing I have ever done. Just plain old diving seems boring now. I also took four or five trips to Beverly Hills; I have a good friend and ...Expand for more
we meet there to visit. Also took in Savannah, Georgia and Orlando to meet the same friend. Ate at Paula Deene's restaurant in Savannah...that was so awesome.. My friend in I ended up going to so many awesome places from Alaska, Canada, Las Vegas and then onto Dubai (3 times), and Bangalore India a couple of times. I met some of the most amazing and interesting people.
I am enjoying my free time, though I have to admit I get a little bored sometime and am thinking about finding a part time job, perhaps working Hospice....you know at our age you get good at helping the dying since most of us have lost a lot of people we love.
My son, who would have been thirty-nine this year, was killed in a car accident just after his eighteenth birthday. My daughter, who is 34, lives in San Diego California where she does a little bit of everything. She's truly a free spirit. I think my old 60's Hippy ways rubbed off on her. She has worked with Autistic Kids some but has also worked refinishing yachts, babysitting the rich and disabled, and a little bit of everything else. She is single and no children.
I am separated from my husband after 33 years....since July of 1999.....we are still married and live only a couple of streets from each other I love being single, though he and I are still very good friends and do things together on occasion.
I travel a lot. I took up Scuba Diving years back and have fallen in love with it. I try to get to the Caribbean at least a couple of times a year to get some diving in. My daughter dives also and comes with me sometime. I love to cook, I read a lot, and belong to a sorority that does all sorts of cool stuff. It is all ladies my age but we bartend for big social events and have a blast. I try to work out on a regular basis at the hospital health center. I remember Freer High School as the happiest and craziest days of my life, and would love to hear from any of my old classmates. Drop me an e-mail; I promise to answer. I still keep up with several people from Freer, Jackie, Stinky, Ruby, Sissy, Linda, Charlotte, and a bunch more. I still think we were lucky to grow up in the surroundings we did...too much fun and craziness.
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