Joan Fischle:  

Life as I've known it.... How do you compress the last amost 40 years into a statement that makes any sense? "The years just flow by like a broken down dam" comes pretty close. After the Infamous Norland High, I left home as fast as I could. Let's see, what is the farthest point north I can go??? Oh, look, there's a place called Bellingham, Washington. Hummmm, looks good! Actually, I ended up there for my brother Glen's wedding and liked how green the state was, and how nice and laid back everyone was. So I moved there. It was a year or so before I realized that they were laid back because they were stoned. Met a guy who looked like John Denver, and played a guitar, and had the most wonderful voice. After a year or so we married. The 7 year itch infected my husband and that was that. We had 2 sons who survived that relationship, and turned out surprisingly normal. Meanwhile....I worked in Bellingham, sharing custody with the ex. I found a job on a yacht out of Ft Laud and ended up splitting my time parenting in Wa, then taking boat jobs all over the world. The boys grew up, moved out and on their own, and I continued to work around the globe. I worked on a king crab processor in Dutch Harbor, a yacht based in the Bahamas, one that took the summer route to Maine and back to Ft Lauderdale, and one that went to Rio, then did a short stint in Antibes France on another boat. Back in Washington, I found another job in Dillingham, Alaska working in a fisheries supply store, then another job on a salmon tender in Kenai Alaska. The rain in the NW is ledgendary, so when a boat job came up in San Diego, hey, I'm gone! I had 2 different boat jobs, both on spectartor boats for the 1992 America's Cup race off the coast of San Diego. All races end, and after that I just had boat cleaning jobs, then went back to work at a fisheries supply store. About this time Hurricane Andrew was approaching Florida, and my mother was scheduled for surgery for breast cancer. I flew down on the last flight into Ft Laud. Welcome home, get in the closet! Back in Ca, my Mom moved out west, and both brothers moved with her (that would be Glen and Butch). In 1997 Glen died, in 2000 my mother died. I was at this time working as a CMA (certified medical assistant). I left 2 months later and went to Seattle where I was offered a job on a 100ft family yacht. Butch is still somewhere in San Clemente CA, but none of us know where, or if he is even still alive. He looked pretty old and beaten up for as young...Expand for more