Chantal Maher-Rajlich:  

Greetings, I am Chantal Maher from the Class of '84. One of my first jobs was at the old Surprise Store on Washington Blvd and my 2nd job was at Casa Carlos as a hostess in the Fox Hills Mall. Then worked at Pronto Market/Tader Joe's (across from MGM on Washington). When I was only 16 years old, I received a call from cchs classmate Jana Rajlich who set me up on a blind date with her older brother George, and he and I have literally been together ever since. Something about my relationship that is very non-traditional is that we began our family before getting married. We literally only just got married to celebrate our 20th anniversary. It was a small ceremony, on Valentines Day of 2003, attended only by our witnesses.... our two boys. We have two lovely boys (more like young men at this point). Nathan is about to turn 20 on February 6 and attends Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, majoring in computer engineering. Our younger son, Forest is in his Junior year at San Rafael High and just turned 17 in October. It's unbelievable how quickly they grow-up. Rewind ..... After receiving my cosmetology license, I attended my first Grateful Dead concert, a choice which forever altered my path. I began to travel all over the country just to attend their shows, touring from place to place, and selling my hand-made crafts. We even traveled all the way to Europe just to see them play. The crafts consisted of jewelery made of tiny glass seed beads. When not traveling I was selling at craft shows, fairs and farmer's markets. As I became more passionate about my art, others wanted me to teach them my techniques, so soon I began offering workshops to teach bead-work classes at local bead stores. I began writing a book on the subject (until too many books just like mine, hit the shelves first). The Bead Queen is what I was sometimes called. This path I continued for many years but now only do it when someone orders something, or as special gifts. A year or so before becoming pregnant, I became interested in my health and well being so I began began attending an amazing school of holistic health and bodywork called "IPSB" (the Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing). We moved up to San Rafael, Marin County, in 1989, 3 weeks after becoming a new mother and have lived here in the bay area ever since. Soon after becoming a new mommy, I continued my education at another school of healing called "Alive & Well." When Nathan was nearly 3, he was very ready to be around other kids, which was excellent timing because my 2nd child, Forest-Rain, was about to be born, so we joined a very unique parent/child cooperative nursery school in San Anselmo. It provided me with an opportunity to meet other parents and make new friends and literally become part of an amazing community. Through the valuable experience and skills gained at the co-op, I decided to go back to school yet again, but this time pursue a career in the field of Early-Childhood Education. My days are now spent working with young children as a preschool teacher, a career that couldn't be more fulfilling (other than better pay of course). I was also an active volunteer for 8 years at my boys elementary school. I even implemented their successful school wide recycling program and ongoing fund raising program. I am still involved and very passionate about environmental education. One of the favorite things I STILL spend time doing each day, is rollerskating. It is how I get to AND from work each day. Some of you may recall me skating around Culver City, and now I can say, I still do. As for my siblings and my parents, all of them have remained in Southern California. My younger sister, Michelle is a mom, and an Allstate agent in Culver City. She and her new husband (whom you may remember from cxc), Robert Ford, just had twins (in November 2007) and live in a lovely home with an amazing view, in Malibu California. Michelle is also the one who purchased from our parents, the Culver City home on Madison Avenue, where we all grew up, so fortunately, it is still so-called, in the family (she rents it out to some nice folks). As for my one and only brother, Chris, he is doing well, and now lives in Moorpark with his lovely wife Pamela (Tye) Maher-Stewart (whom we all love very much). Chris, even though he suffered from a terrible boating accident, is still working hard every day at a construction business he owns called "Maher Construction." Lynda Maher (Boyd, Mcknight), lives in Simi Valley, and is doing well as the secretary for a Simi Valley High School principal. She has 5 wonderful children (3 are adult children) and an awesome man, too. ...Expand for more