Jennifer Mascola:  

I haven't stayed in touch with anyone from Vacaville High. It was my 11th school and I only attended during my Senior Year. On exam days, when I wasn't at Lake Barryessa during the Spring Semester, I pretty much took exams and moved onto riding my horse, showing in 4-H, and attending rock concerts. I drove the bright yellow Ford pickup with chrome rims and a rainbow window screen in the back window, (back with rainbows and unicorns weren't associated with any significance). After attending Solano CC for a couple of years, I transferred to UC Davis. I graduated with a BA in Rhetoric, a minor in Psychology. With student loans looming over my head, I quickly obtained a job in Fairfield, California.. I was a registered representative for, The Prudential. However, my territory was in Vacaville, including the retirement communities. This was the mid 80's and couples born before 1920 were not quite ready for young ladies to handle their money. I take pride in being a part of the group of women who dared to work in a male dominated industry, deal with old boy's club, and contribute to changes in women's roles in the financial industry. This was through sheer determination, commitment, and hard work. (Stubbornness I suppose.) I married my first husband, Stephen Mullins in August of 1987. Boy, we both knew how to have a good time. We had one last outrageous backyard wedding reception at my family's house there on Junebug Lane. My son Kristian was born a couple years later so my focus was on motherhood and family life. I left my job in the financial industry and focused on the family restaurant business. We owned Mullins' pub and Grill in Suisun City. That was the beginning of the end of my marriage. Let's just say I found that I wasn't following my dreams and there was some multi generational family drama involved with a family business. After leaving the family and business behind, I remained in our home in Lawler Ranch in Suisun City so my son would continue to be close to his father and grandparents. I revived my own career, (back in the financial industry), but in a wholesale/marketing capacity. I worked for Essex Corporation, in Napa, for 13.5 years. During this time I was focused on raising my son and building a financially stable future for us. I worked my way up from entry level, to senior employee, to manager, to Assistant VP. I also made time for a couple serious dating relationships along the way that led to much more personal growth. Eventually, I met my current husband Andrew Mascola, through functions at Singles of Solano social club. Our relationship blossomed and we married in Kauai before my son's Freshman year of High School. Andy works for the state in the safety division of Cal Trans. He is a first responder on the Carquinez bridge and drives one of those enormous tow trucks. We moved to the Northgate neighborhood of Vallejo. It was 1/2 way between our jobs and within walking distance to high school for my son. My son attended Jessie Bethel High School up in the Vallejo Hills near our home. The parent of our American corp., (a foreign corp.), decided that my subsidiary corporation was to be dismantled. So, I went from being a key employee to building our Corporations business to key in closing down my Division for good. I decided to get all my preventative dental and health completed before my final layoff date. That was when a routine mammogram showed that I had Stage IIa of Triple Negative breast Cancer. So, newly married, the course of our lives changed drastically. (I do believe that the incredibly job stress was a contributor to my immune system allowing cancer cells to proliferate.) After several complications from dealing with breast cancer, MRSA and then hearing loss in my right ear, (long story about resistant infections), I made it through my aggressive treatments in just under a year. We remained positive and there was no looking back. I landed an awesome job with CSAA as a Life Product Relations Specialist. My territory were the offices in the East Bay. It was perfect for my back ground and education level. I worked really long hours, drove all over the congested East Bay, and was passionate about supporting the senior management of my new Employer. After a routine follow up, (I felt fine), I learned the cancer had returned to my right lung. Holy crap, Stage IV. Not to get into years of medical history, suffice it to say that we were advised by every doc, tumor board, specialist that my aggressive Stage IV cancer was terminal. I continued horrendous treatment, telling myself, I can be that one person o...Expand for more