Debra Comer:
CLASS OF 1970
Berkmar High SchoolClass of 1970
Lilburn, GA
Walter F. George High SchoolClass of 1971
Atlanta, GA
Midway Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
Decatur, GA
Cleveland Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
Atlanta, GA
Debra's Story
I've lived in England since 1986 with my British husband Neil and our two sons, Nathan (17) and Aidan (12 - our surprise baby!). My daughter Jennifer lives in Atlanta with her husband and their two beautiful boys, but we see each other as often as possible.
We live in a small town in the north of England, about 15 miles from Leeds. It's beautiful and quiet, and thankfully there are no strip malls, big box stores or fast food outlets anywhere nearby. Neil and I lived and worked in London for years before our boys were born and it was fun and exciting - and I count myself fortunate to have experienced it - but it's not a place to raise children, not to us anyway.
Over the years after getting out of high school, depending on how old I was and where I was living, I worked at various times as a secretary, a paralegal, and in the music biz for a while. In London I did PR for a large law firm, but gave it up when my older son Nathan came along. Then, just as I was toying with the idea of going back to work, my son Aidan made his appearance on the scene. I didn't have to think twice about where my loyalties were.
I decided to go back to university in 2000 and graduated in 2003 with a BSc in Electronic Imaging - a big change for me, and a steep learning curve because it involved a lot of sciency things I'd not done before (especially given that previously in college I'd studied English and Journalism); I discovered that I love Physics! I do a bit of web design nowadays but my real passion is photography and digital design. When I do work, it's for myself and that's always nice.
Another big passion for me is American politics. If I could go back one more time to study, it would be Political Science.
I've always enjoyed travelling, too, and couldn't wait to shake the Georgia red clay off my feet when I was young, crossing the USA when I was 22 before my daughter started school. We lived in a tent for a few months in the process, which taught me to think on my feet and be resilient. And to always remember to put a groundcloth down before putting up a tent. And that it gets cold at night in a lot of places even in the summertime. We lived in Salt Lake City in 1976-77, and then did the camping thing again on the way back across country and ended up in Chattanooga for 1978-79 (where I attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga). We saw some wondrous sights in our amazing country and I wouldn'...Expand for more
t trade the experience for anything. The downside of travelling that way was that my daughter to this day would probably rather have all her hair fall out than ever go camping or hiking again. We're both still good at rolling with the punches.
My husband and sons and I still travel a couple of months each year, dividing our time between Europe, the States (especially visiting Jennifer, but many other places as well), the Canadian Rockies (for skiing), and Australia - Neil works for an Anglo-Australian company and spends a lot of time down there, so we have an apartment in Sydney. We travel during school holidays throughout the year and during the summer.
Neil and I joke that when he retires, we're going to sell our house and become ski bums. Will we do it? Time will tell. He just turned 49 in November 2008 so it's a few years until we could make it happen, but it's good to have dreams. We just need to look after our knees in the meantime.
In what's left of my spare time, I'm an active member of Democrats Abroad UK, and I'm also in the DAR (which sounds weird even to me...). I work out (hate it but know it's necessary) and walk at least 20 miles a week - living literally next to the Yorkshire Moors helps, plus having a dog to take out forces me to pull on the boots and go.
My family was severely dysfunctional when I was growing up and coping with the fallout from that as well as trying to overcome the crippling shyness that kept me from having a large circle of friends has been a lifelong project for me, with mixed success. A lot of people thought I was aloof in school, but I was really too afraid to talk to people until I felt comfortable with them, and most people didn't stick around long enough for me to get comfortable - instead they'd just decide I was stuck-up or something and bail. Living abroad and growing older have helped a lot with that and I feel a lot more secure in myself. I don't put up with much BS from people and I'm especially fearless when it comes to looking out for the welfare of my children.
Overall, I've discovered what a remarkable and complicated world we live in and know I never would have discovered that if I'd never spread my wings and flown. Along the way I learned to like the person I've become, and understand that our time on the planet is all a learning process. That sounds airy-fairy, but there you go...it's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Life is good.
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