Jane Hastings:
CLASS OF 1969
Evergreen High SchoolClass of 1969
Seattle, WA
McCook Central Elementary SchoolClass of 1969
Salem, SD
Glacier High SchoolClass of 1969
Seattle, WA
Roosevelt High SchoolClass of 1969
Minneapolis, MN
South High SchoolClass of 1969
Minneapolis, MN
Jane's Story
I apologize for this long history, but I use this forum as a memory bank. Save yourself. Read no more.
October 2010: Whew! The move is done, but we are still tripping over a significant number of boxes, and now I need to take some things back! I dread the drive "up the hill." I do enjoy visiting the neighbors. Big news... my son filed to run for President in 2012! He has compassion, empathy, with a strong sense of ethics and honesty, and is genuinely smart and thoughtful. What a change that would be!
August 2010: Nearly three weeks into this month and our move to our son's still isn't complete. Complications with care givers (one was excellent, but couldn't stay) caused delays and a lot of stress. But, the end is near!
Retraining the dogs has begun in earnest. Our combined household of 5 dogs is like having 5 two-year olds. They're making progress and no longer go completely insane when someone walks by, don't rush the door (as long as I keep my eye on them), and know the order in which they are walked. Neighbors (they had worried when they heard there would be 5 dogs) have let me know that they are pleased that the dogs are not allowed to bark incessently and not at night at all.
One last load from our home will complete the "stuff" to be moved, but because I haven't completed installing our bedroom cabinets or had time to build some furniture pieces, boxes line the wall in one room here and we are still manuvering around others. Where's my magic wand?
We're three months into the UCLA medical study and still draw looks when we go. It seems odd that, at a medical clinic used to having wheelchairs and disabled people, we stick out. (We have a technique for handling 2 wheelchairs at once with guys that have limited strength and coordination.) People are equally surprised when they discover we have no family to help nor government assistance. .
July 2010: Less than a week to go to "finish" the move to our "new" home. A
nurse is caring for my family there, until I get into the house permanently. Without them here, it's lonely, but I can get more done. Physically, no issue, but emotionally, it's tough. As I sort through our things, what to keep, what to leave, it's the memories that make it difficult.
I smile at the good memories, grieve for the lost loved ones, or shed a few tears at the transformation our "family's disease" has had on my guys, then move on. Looking at young faces in old photos, as I remove them from their decades old frames, I think, who would have thought "this" would be the outcome. Some people are imprisoned or squandered their lives, are mentally unbalanced or physically ill, endured great tragedy or suffering, and some were gone far too early. Yet, some had wonderful lives, enjoying immense success, with close caring families, and reaching their personal and career goals. ( I prefer wonderful. :)
Surrounded by boxes and stacks items, yet to be packed, I had better resume the task at hand. My future, both frightening and exciting, is coming quickly. Depleted money and having no safety net scares me, but friends are searching their HR networks to help me find a suitable job. Old friends are calling to book events and visiting dates... how fun is that? I love it and can't wait to be situated to receive company! Look ahead with hope.
June 2010: About half of the move is complete. My oldest son is in his new old home and our youngest son is coping with our boxes everywhere. But, very quickly our "hew" home is taking on our personality. My husband's birthday included a trip to UCLA, where drug trials for Machado Joseph's have started. After the required hail of tests and questions, we made arrangements for an adjustable bed, and then celebrated Terry's birthday at Red Robin with family and a friend.
April 2010: We are anticipating our move to San Diego with some excitment, although I will sorely miss my friends and neighbors. Long needed house repairs are in the works, with everything to be wrapped up by early May. Then I'll go help my son Clint move to his new house and measure (son) Andy's house for cabinets. I look forward to a lot of out of town company, as we'll have a dedicated guest room.
Soap opera: I got a phone call from my (25 years) estranged mother, which I never should have taken. In her 80's, she hasn't gotten any nicer. She was demented, delusional, profane, and obscene. On the positive side, her call confirmed her twisted thinking and removed any remaining sugar coating of childhood memories. Sociopaths never change.
March, 2010: I joined Pre-paid Legal to dig my way out of a bunch of different legal pickles, the kind that nag at peace of mind. They offer unlimited phone consultation, which right now I use a lot, a will (updated yearly), and quite a list of other services. They described a will as your last love letter, which I thought was quite nice.
I am gaining more time to spend playing with the dogs, watching the birds, and looking at the pots of flowers planted last fall. "Stock" is my favorite flower of the month, so fragrant that one small cutting fills our great room with its sweet smell.
I continue to struggle with the in-out breathing thing (that keeps one alive), but am getting better. My friend smokes like a chimney, she's fine. I never smoked and have whatever this is. (Stupid lungs!) ;)
Feb 7, 2010: It appears that we will be moving to San Diego, but isn't set in stone. On the upside, we will be closer to family. It will be easier for out of town and state friends to visit, as there is a dedicated guest room. The house is near the airport, train system, and freeways. We love company. Everything is green and grows without constant attention. We're looking forward to the zoo, museums, libraries, theaters, and university.
The down side is the moving process and leaving all our friends and neighbors here. I had pared down our excess stuff, so now for another serious round and a huge garage sale. Leaving our home of 34 years will be difficult...
Jan 30, 2010: An emotional setback... my cousin called, upset that my mother had turned her back on her brother (my uncle), who had recently been placed in a long-term care facility, after having broken his hip. To make matters worse, my aunt fell at the care facility yesterday, breaking her hip. My mother offered no consolation, no help.
Instead, my mother, now in the Des Moines area, has chosen to use and leave her considerable fortune for the defense and release of accused and convicted sex offenders, so they can live next to you.
2010: Surprisingly, the pansies and crythansumums have weathered the freezing weeks.
A few days into the new year and no personal crisises. On January 2nd, our friend Bessie had her sister's funeral, with standing room only, that overflowed outside. Mourning for her loss was combined with laughter and joy for what she did in her life. It served as another example of what a good life is... love and caring for family, friends, then others. My New Year's Resolution is to live a good life and start every day by asking myself, "How can I help my family and friends get the most from their lives today?"
We have become politically active, as have many people. As our income comes from my husband's USAF retirement, which we no longer feel is safe, the future looks bleak with the change to socialism and looming bankruptcy of the country. Our peace of mind is gone, but we try to keep our chins up. Frugality fatigue sets in, from time to time, but we continue on. Whatever happens, we are still in a bit better boat that the majority of Americans. Smile on.
Health issues: I started a med to help with my confusion and ...?? For those of you who tried to contact me outside classmates.com, my email has been down for two or three months, please message me through classmates, if you can. I enjoy the contacts and hearing about your lives.
Profile:
We happily live in the High Desert of Southern California in Apple Valley, where the sun shines nearly every day. In the evenings, we swim in our "Flintstone" pool, then relax together on a swinging loveseat, talking, throwing a ball for the dogs, and watching the hummingbirds and other small life in our flower garden. Our sons live in San Diego and we see them about once a month. Life is good.
Married for 39 years to a great guy, we have 2 sons, ages 36 and 37, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and a 4 year old grandson.
While raising the kids, I got a med tech license and biology degree. I taught science for a short time (USAF base closed and layoffs ensued, due to declining enrollments). So, I moved into a closely related field, computer programming, for the past 19 years.
My best accomplishments would be: my sons, both in computer fields and nice guys; building a "Vari-eze" two man airplane in 1978; and having 5 of our software programs nominated as Ziff-Davis (PC Magazine) award finalists. :)
Spare time is devoted mostly to dog related activities... training, agility, and volunteering for a local animal control. We have 2 chihuahuas, one of whom excels in agility. In August (2004), we added a new Beagle puppy, rescued from the pound, to our home. We are working this sweetheart into becoming a therapy dog. In June 2005, we added another Beagle rescue, Joe, who is now 9 years old. Joe is a lover, but a pill. His multiple behavior problems keep me on my toes, but I'm working on them one at a time. I think his throwing-up in my car (psychological) is nearly cured. (Nope, it came back for lack of continued reinforcement. Start over.)
My husband, finally diagnosed correctly about 8 years ago, and both sons have Machado Joseph's disease, a rare neurological disease, with my youngest son having a particularly aggressive form. Even so, we consider ourselves luckier than most, since our family remains close and loving. Althoug...Expand for more
h the physical and financial aspects of living are increasingly challenging, we still laugh, play, and find enjoyment in life.
2009
Started off with a bang! On the up side, no major wind storms, the fences stayed up, the cardboard on our still broken windows survived, and we're dry, warm, and food in the tummy. To balance that off, the septic backed up again and Terry nearly choked to death last night... Heimlich to the rescue. In the middle, the pool cleaner bit the dust, but has been replaced. The septic is fixed for and working now. I am happy that I can attack the mountain of laundry that piled up in the interim. :)
I put down bricks, making a large patio around the pool, for my husband and son, so they can race RC cars or their wheelchairs. Life is getting increasingly more difficult for my guys, but I am ever so happy to still have them around. Our dogs are doing fine, aging like all of us.
Looking forward to the year, I am planning what seeds to plant in the spring and what repairs will be the next. My "Honey do" list is long and I'm the Honey! :)
We were greatly saddened that our beloved ball-driven Chihuahua, Shakey, died September 1, 2009, at 1:30 in the morning. We discovered too late that she had pneumonia. She continued eating and indulging in yummies up to the end, which disguised how ill she was. She had a vet appointment for the next day, but she took a sudden turn for the worse. Smoke from wildfires poured over the mountains onto our house and that was the last straw for her. The emergency vet clinic couldn't save her. She excelled at agility, loved riding on Terry's lap in the wheelchair, but her main passion was "the ball." Extremely ball-driven, she had even fire-walked (over white-hot embers) for her ball. She will be missed, mourned, and remembered fondly for the rest of our lives.
Christmas 2009: Santa must have been one crocked little elf, by the time he got here. We awoke to a large pile of presents by the tree. As my guys opened them, they looked suspiciously like items from our kitchen... pots and pans (with marks from decades of use), canned goods(my husband especially liked the mixed fruit), utensils, a toaster (with crumbs), bread, cooking timer, canisters (with contents), and a couple of boxes that appeared to be any loose items that had been on the counter (computer cord, music player, hearing aide accessories, etc.) Opening all the re-gifted possessions tired my son out and he had to stop to eat something for strength. :) Eventually we got to a few "real" gifts, although it appears Santa re-distributed our lists this year (the little drunkard). ;) We had lots of visits and calls with friends, and a visit from my dad's brother and wife.
Dec 2009: Life continues with gradual changes and adaptations.
My husband was concerned over his wheelchair marking the hall walls and grinding the door frames. Hoping to surprise him, I did a late night repair and paint. I may as well have put magnets into the walls. His collisions and crashes increased! Apparently he needs stripes and marks to navigate his chair, due to his double vision. Lesson learned. :)
Our oldest son earned his degree, after a decade's delay. Yeah!
2008
5/1/08 We (husband, youngest son, and myself) took what we probably be our last vacation, spending 3 days in Spokane, then 10 days in Seattle. Spokane was great, saw everyone and visited where we wanted. Seattle was a small disaster, as my husband became ill the first day and remained ill for nearly the entire visit, restricting us to the motel and emergency room of Everygreen Hospital. Our son and I became ill after three days.
Finally, during the last two days, we were able to visit some friends and a nephew, but Andrew relapsed the last evening.
We were fortunate to have a friend come to our rescue, bringing supplies, food, and medicine to our motel room. We missed out on doing the tourist thing, but the same friend gave us a short Microsoft tour, which we found impressive.
Sadly, the illness had a profound and lasting effect on our son's condition. We feared he, being extremely gaunt and off-color, would not survive the air trip home. He declined significantly in his remaining abilities, now not being able to walk. He gave up all driving, as his legs are so affected with Parkinson's like symptoms, that driving would be dangerous. He lost a great deal of muscle mass during the two week vacation.
Because of my guys's fragile health and difficulty with transferring them from and to their wheelchairs, this was probably our last vacation. We'll just make do with playing games and watching Netflix movies.
6/21/08 Our son, having not recovered from the May trip, ended up in the hospital with severe pneumonia. After draiing a liter of fluid from his chest cavity, surgery, losing part of his left lung, 6 days in intensive care, and more days in the ward, he and we were able to return home. We lucked out in having the best surgeon and anesthesiologist in the hospital (so say the nurses) for our son. Apparently having a very rare disease, coupled with an unusual illness presentation, has its advantages!
2008 update:
We are alive! Our grandson is running, trying to talk, and turning into a real little boy. Clint, our oldest, has a few more months of classes to finish his degree. Sara, Clint's wife, is a homebody, turning into a great little cook. Andrew, still single, works mostly from home, goes out with friends on the weekends, and enjoys video games. We are so pleased that they both turned out kind, loving, and thoughtful.
In November, I had finished a good portion of our backyard landscaping, focused around a large Joshua tree. We put light river rock around the perimeter of the tree, so as not to injure the sensitive roots. For the wheelchairs, the majority of the backyard will have bricks, for easy navigation. In December, heavy snow broke more than half the branches off the tree and the remaining brances look precarious. Back to the drawing board!
Financially we are in the same boat with most other people in the country... watching our pennies. But, with decades of experience scrimping, I know how to find resources, cut expenses, and get bargains. I am always grateful for what we have and that we are not eating wild cabbage picked from along dirt roads in Ethiopia. Life is good. Things could be a lot worse.
2006
1/3/06: We survived the latest natural disaster in our area, a tremendous wind and rain storm, that snapped phone poles like toothpicks and uprooted our remaining eight, huge, Juniper trees, from the original thirty. A former student of mine showed up like an angel, in a white truck, with chain saws and a wench. He felled two towering trees in the midst of the storm, to prevent damage to my neighbors property, while I tugged lines to control the fall. We were soaking wet, dirty, and cold, but averted life changing disaster. Even so, cleanup and repairs will keep me busy for quite a while, with six more trees to go.
3/19/06: Huge news! With a suspension device, like used on Christopher Reeves, my son walked "normally" on a treadmill! Neurologists are baffled. We are thrilled! Fingers crossed for a treatment to come soon for my guys.
3/23/06: Started a new endeavor... house flipping. I needed work I could do on my schedule, partnered with a builder who can do what I can't. So far, so good, even with the expected "unexpected" construction problems.
6/02/06 We returned from our 2nd vacation in 35 years. The first vacation was a week on a houseboat on Lake Mead. My husband always wanted to see Hawaii, so we took a cruise around the islands. Our youngest son came, too. We had great fun. No wonder people take vacations! The desperately needed house repairs will have to wait, but we needed to go while the guys could do some things, so what the heck!
8/6/06 Our new grandson arrived. Born looking like an enforcer for the mob, he slimmed down and has cute dimples.
2005
Following estrangement from my abusive biological family many years ago, life improved. In February, 2005, my dad's family found me, 45 years after his demise. (Isn't the internet great!) Being told I am 180 degrees different from my sister and mother brought me great happiness and peace. My family (husband, sons, in-laws, and father's relatives) and life, now, make up for the misery of my youth.
School
After leaving Salem, South Dakota, following the summer of the 6th grade, my family moved 13 times, with 8 school changes (9 if you count a summer school) before I graduated from Evergreen in Seattle in 1969. Being a full year younger than most of my classmates, I always was immature by comparison. A complete lack of self-confidence and self-esteem did not help social interactions. The frequent school changes made it difficult for me to establish long friendships. Sadly, I remember few classmates, but those I do, I remember fondly.
College
So long ago, I can hardly remember! Followed my love of biology, animals, and the great outdoors. I met my future husband. Marriage and children delayed my degree, a BS in biology, from California State University. I was a licensed med lab tech, then taught science for a few years. With the closure of George Air Force Base, enrollments declined severely, and I, along with dozens of other teachers, lost our jobs. Coupled with the, at times, life-threatening illness of my husband, I no longer worked away from home.
I had only started on my masters, but the time and stresses of my private life could not withstand the demands required for the degree. Additionally, there was no point in getting a degree that I would not be able to use. Although I was going for field biology, I would have liked a degree in animal behavior (not offered at CSUSB), as much of my life is devoted to animal related activites, including training.
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