Stephanie Perez:
CLASS OF 1993
Lemoore High SchoolClass of 1993
Lemoore, CA
Engvall Junior High SchoolClass of 1989
Lemoore, CA
Stephanie's Story
Life
After high school, I worked at Mr. Bulky's at the Hanford Mall during the summer. I met my husband, Mel, in August of '93, just before school at C.O.S. started. I tried college, but I was working at Mr. Bulky's, Golden Corral and A&W just to pay the rent.
Because school here was a bomb, I decided to move to Georgia to go to school to be closer to Mel. I went to Augusta State College which is now Augusta State University and Mel and I got married May 20, 2004. And guess who I saw while in Augusta....Danny Parryman!! It was great to see a friend in a foreign land!
Mel switched from the Marine Reserves to Active Duty Army and I landed in Germany December 31, 1994. We got to visit Paris twice, once to Disneyland Paris and then with our first son, John, to the Eifle Tower and Notre Dame. When military families are in Germany they say you leave with three things: A shrunk, cookoo clock and a kid. We left with a cookoo clock and 2 kids! I was 4 months pregnant with Eric when we left to go to Ft. Huachuca, AZ. It was nice being 13 hours away from home and we got to see both sides of the family every year.
In June of 2000, Mel got out of the Army and we headed back to Augusta, GA to be near his family. I worked for Railroad Medicare and he started working with a contractor on the base teaching computer networking and radio repair. Life there was stressed, too fast and we never saw each other or the kids with the hours we worked.
So, Christmas Break 2003 we headed out with moving vans and all our stuff back to Cali. We have been back in the Hanford/Lemoore area since Christmas Day 2003 and loving every minute of it! I am a stay-at-home mom and sell PartyLite candles while Mel is an installer/service man for Direct TV. Call me and we can meet up for a drink!
School
School was school....I knew just about everyone and everyone knew me. Yeah, I was in the nerd group but that came w/ less peer pressure and less stress. I truly enjoyed all my extra activities from gymnastics and diving Freshman year to cheerleading Senior year. I did most of 'em so I wouldn't have to go home. I miss drama club and the Elizabethan Banquet and hope one day to be able to help Mrs. Palermo out with what I can around my kids. It is really wierd having them in Hanford activities and rivaling Lemoore! I miss the friends, the interactions with people regularly and innosence of h.s. but we all grow up and learn that reality will hit you sooner or late...Expand for more
r and all we can do is enjoy the ride!
College
Well, I tried COS and even moved into an apt in Visalia but that was probably the worst mistake I had ever made! I ended up dropping out of there in October and moved to Augusta, GA to try it out there. I attended a few classes at Augusta State College (now ASU) and worked at the mall to make ends meet. I picked up that Southern accent soooo fast! After we got married and we moved to Germany there wasn't too much for me as the military had mainly BA courses and I was still considered a Freshman. After we got to Ft. Huachuca, AZ and I was sure Mel wasn't going back to Kuwait, I attended classes at the local Community college and was then a Sophomore. Then back to Augusta where I took some online courses and am currently still considered a Junior. School isn't for me any longer, I am enjoying being a stay-at-home mom!
Military
I am the spouse of a military man. I never thought I would marry into the military as I was forbidden on base but working at the Hanford Mall you tend to see A LOT of military guys! While Mel was stationed at LNAS he was in the Marine Reserves and when he went back to FL for his reserve duty I moved to Augusta, GA where his family lived so I could have a place to stay and some friendly faces to help me in that strange new land.
We got married right before he went active duty Army and he ended up completing his AIT there at Ft Gordon, GA. We ended up in Bamberg, GE from Nov '94 til Nov '97 and it was the best 3 years of my life! Bamberg, GE is the only city where a Pope is buried outside of Rome and it was NEVER hit by any bombs from either war! So much history and knowledge in that little town! I can't wait to go back and visit one day.
Then onto Ft Huachuca, AZ which is next to a small town I think about the size of Lemoore, if you can believe it! They had 2 grocery stores, Wal-Mart, 3 maybe 4 fast food restaraunts and a wonderful Mexican restaraunt about 5 miles south of the base. The one thing I miss most about Ft Huachuca, definitely NOT the skunks (ask me about this one!), is the monsoons. They would hit in June after 4 pm and be as beautiful as can be. If you have seen the movie Tombstone, the rain storms are true to life!
He got out in 2000 and our family moved back to Augusta, GA where his dad was retired and he started teaching the Army soldiers computer and radio construction and repair.
I miss the people we met and the places we saw but I do not miss the military life!
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