Karen Gilman:
CLASS OF 1987
Elma High SchoolClass of 1987
Elma, WA
Karen's Story
Life
I Married my husband Chris 8-25-06. I was introduced to him by my brother Ken, they had worked together at Boeing. We have 2 boys, Jakob (7) and Michael (3).
I have worked in my present dental office 16 years and am office administrator. I work right next to Tammy (Harvey) and until October also w/ Lisa (Vaughn). My brother Ken lives in Shelton also and until he built his new house was only 5 houses away!!! I have great memories of growing up and school!
I never in a million years thought I would end up in Shelton! Our decsion to live here was logistics and family. My husbands parents are much older than mine and he wanted to be close to help them if needed. It turned out a good idea because his dad passed away 3-01.
I attended my husbands 20th reunion w/ him. He had never attended one before and was so impressed at our 10th. His 20th was not nearly as good as our 10th, but we had a good time. It only made me look forward to our next class reunion all the more!
We bought our house in 4-97 and have enjoyed finishing up the yard and raising our boys. My oldest Jake is a red head! He was a easy baby and a great kid, not sure where the red hair came from but we blame daddy because he was adopted and I have no red hair in my family. He does not have the temper people say redheads have, that was saved for his little brother Mikey.
Jake was born 10 wks early(no reason known, no complications) and spent 25 days at the hospital. He was caught up by 1 year on all charts and was born at the exact same moment as an earthquake, earning him the name earthquake Jake at St. Peters.
After that exciting childbirth we sailed smoothly w/ Mikey unil I got pre-eclampsia at the end and after breaking my water...there was a foot sticking out! Welcome emergency C-section. Mikey has since been determined to carve his own path. He is a ball of energy and love and is stubborn as a mule. I have said many times that Mikey will be the cause of all the gray hair I will get.
Notice I said get, not have!
I enjoy gardening, stamping, scrapbooking and being mom. I have a great husband and family and feel very lucky to have them so close.
I have been president of our Homeowners Association for 6 years and have enjoyed it. I am going to step down to be just a board member this year be...Expand for more
cause the boys schedules are getting busier.
I think my life has turned out well. It's amazing to look back and see just how smart our parents were when we were teenagers and younger. We thought they did not know anything. Now we realize they did and were just trying to protect us and keep us from making mistakes. I see my brother going through the teen years w/ his kids and it makes me cringe, knowing what is coming up in my life. It does not help when my husband tells me his high school stories.
School
biggest crush... not sure I had lots in junior high. I had the best time my Junior and Senior year because I was dating James (Coffman yes, I married him, yes, I divorced him) he was off in the Army and without a boyfriend tying me down I got to do all the things I wanted to.
I remember decorating for way to many dances, and working the concessions too!!! I loved the old school, the building had such charm and how we could not wait to get to the Senior floor! I remember sharing a locker on Senior floor w/ Lisa (vaughn) and Troy and Rob Thomas were right next to us. I remember Troy telling me about Shawn, because my dad had unplugged our master phone switch because the phone would not stop the night before.
Which brings me to what I hated! My dad worked for the phone company and would cut into my calls and give me printout of how long I talked and to who. These were the days of no cordless and talking on the kitchen phone for privacy. What would he do now?
Looking back I can say I was a pretty good kid, even though my dad may say otherwise.
I remember all of our Jr high parties at my house. Still have the pictures and they make me laugh. I remember when Amie Dayton left me behind in 8th grade to move all over. I still talk to her she lives in Texas. Nothing like a Boston person talking w/ a Texan accent.
The teachers who inspired me the most are the ones who pushed me the most. Mrs. Prante, Mr. Lambert. I still remember Darren Carnell cheating off me in CWP because he was to busy studying for calculus. I also remember moving his car around the parking lot to different spots.
Gumball rally, what were we thinking to steal manhole covers??????
It was fun though! and senior skip! what was that concoction in the garbage can? Would any of us drink it now?
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