Deborah Reeder:  

I graduated early from high school and spent that last semester at Mesa CC before going on to ASU. My grade point average was not what it should have been after skipping one time in my school years with subsequent lowering of every one of my grades. It was very unfair! Did anyone else have this happen? At ASU, I majored in Interior Design from 1973 to 1975. Married in 1975 and moved to Shreveport for a year. The South is a different world!!! Moved to the Seattle area where I changed to Art History and graduated from the University of Washington with honors in 1979. In 1981 went to graduate school at the University of Chicago. Graduated in 1983 with my MA. And went on to do Ph.D. Coursework. Chicago was a fun place except the weather, which was pretty cold for a girl who grew up in Mesa. My interest in music continued. I played flute and piano growing up. Some of you may know the Carson Jr High band teacher went to prison for sexual assault. Thank goodness, my sister and I were not among those who were victims. Of course, I loved rock and roll. I still believe we had best ever music, including the brilliant Jimi Hendrix. Jazz and blues followed, then classical and opera. Finally I became a fan of country and western, and still listen to all of these styles. Through living in Chicago and New York, I have seen some of the greats: BB King, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Segovia, Pavaroti, Domingo, Dave Brubeck, Milt Jackson, Garth Brooks, Isaac Perlman, and others. Fortunately, theater too entered my life, and I was grateful to see Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton together, Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, Patti Lupine etc. In 1987, we moved to New York and I became interested in period architecture, as we lived in an Edwardian 1904 home. From New York, the entire east coast is accessible: Boston, Salem, Philadelphia, Washington DC. The latter was next move for a year. There I learned to country dance:) My Wyoming grandmother needed help with age relat...Expand for more