Graydon Causey:
CLASS OF 1963
Shoreline High SchoolClass of 1963
Seattle, WA
Graydon's Story
My Story:
After leaving high school, I went to college. As you may remember, I wasn't much of a scholar in high school. In any case, I was expected to go to college and did. I almost flunked/dropped out, but impulsively took a psychology class. That class seemed to nurture my academic interest and was suddenly a great student from then on. As the Vietnam War was raging, during all this time and I had seen my draft board 3 times; I decided to join up after finishing my B.S. Degree in Psychology.
I got married to the "college lady" I was going with in high school. We spent the next five years in the Air Force and for most of that time I was a Missile Launch Officer. Yep, I ended up sitting in an ICBM hole for 27 hours at a stretch. It wasn't bad duty.., we generally worked 8 to 9 days a month and got the rest of the time was off. My wife and I had a baby girl (Kris) during this time. I also took up scuba diving and after about a year and a half, became diving instructor and then became the base diving instructor. That expanded and I was soon teaching diving at the YMCA in Little Rock. This turned out to be some great fun and great times.
After the Air Force, I went to graduate school in CT., in Psychology. Graduate school took care of the marriage and I was on my own again. It was in a research MS program and after completing it; I then came out to CA to live in the sunshine. Of course I'd never really stopped to think about what kind of job I wanted and there was nothing in CA that I wanted to do.
I ended up taking a series of career seminars and really got turned on to the whole process. Within 6 mos. I was in another MS Counseling program and was teaching at California State University in Career Development. Within another 6 months had gotten into a doctoral program in psychology, at the University of San Francisco. I had also managed to get into two internships at the San Francisco VA and at UCSF, both in the areas of Human Sexuality. A busy time, but it gave me a lot of experience and gave me hours for a Marriage, Family, and Child Therapist License. I was taking 24 to 26 units a semester and it really took a toll.
So after finishing my internships and graduating from the MS program, I took a leave of absenc...Expand for more
e from the doctoral program and took my first "real" job. I became a clinical director of a Suicide Prevention Program, in San Mateo, CA. This did not last long and I then went to work for the MS Society. Neither of these jobs turned out to be really oriented toward helping their constituencies and I quit both. I went into private practice for about 4 years and it was clear I could make a living, but I was not going to buy houses, boats and airplanes. I began to incorporate doing vocational rehabilitation and returned to the "doc" program at USF. I also began doing forensic expert witness testimony work. I finally finished my "doc" program in psychology in 1986.
I guess I should add here that I went back into the US Air Force Reserves to help pay for grad-school and supplement my income. That turned out to be a 20 year stint. I retired in 1989, as a Lt. Colonel. It did allow me to visit Spain, the Philippine Islands, Japan, Korea, and Hawaii on numerous occasions. There are many stories here, but this getting too long.
Shortly after finishing my doctorate I got remarried and we both worked our brains out and then decided to retire early. Donna was one of them "real" doctors and was basically doing contract consulting. In any case we took the plunge in 1991 and retired. Within the year she had decided to remodel the new house we had bought in Southern California (Camarillo)... so "she" began part-time consulting again. We briefly flirted with the idea of screenwriting, but price of it all was too high. I took up learning to fly and I ended up certified on ultralights and licensed in general aviation aircraft.
Eventually, she again retired too. We took up kayaking, gardening and digital photography. We did some limited world traveling until 2005. In 2005 we sold our house in S. Calif. and went on the road. We have been traveling or renting for a few months at a time since. We spent 4 months in the orient and then managed to get down to Singapore and Australia. We are basically snow birds that follow the sun, at this point and are waiting for the housing market to totally "crash".
This is the quick and dirty version. Let me know if you have questions.
To find me, go to facebook or google and use my name.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
