Nancy Friesen:
CLASS OF 1965
John Marshall High SchoolClass of 1965
Cleveland, OH
Lakewood High SchoolClass of 1965
Lakewood, OH
Newton D. Baker Junior High SchoolClass of 1962
Cleveland, OH
Riverside Elementary SchoolClass of 1959
Cleveland, OH
Westbrook Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Glenview, IL
Nancy's Story
Well, here it is 2016-Apr. 17. Just finished the taxes! My spouse Frank (separated 15 years) died on Mar. 31 this year. He was 83.5. I took it very hard as we had some wonderful years of dancing, traveling, and having fun. He was a really smart guy & it was so sad to see him lose his brain. In the end he couldn't even walk. His daughter Susan had a lovely memorial in her home for him. I contributed many stories of his childhood, our times together, etc. I guess I was lucky enough to have lived with him longer than anyone else and he told me more also. So life goes on now as a widow even though I felt totally single and dated for 15 years. I will never marry again but would like to find a nice gentleman to travel with, occasional dinners and movies. He must be excellent at conversation and smart and hopefully agree with my religious and political beliefs. Dream on for that. A new friend with benefits would do. I'm bored with the old one.
I'm looking forward to a cruise with my pregnant foster knitting daughter Liz & spouse Dallas. We'll be floating out of Barcelona on a brand new ship come May 12 and seeing the Mediterranean-France, Italy, Greece and Crete.
The Antique Mall business was a fiasco and I lost $$ on it. Now I am working on eBay selling trying to get rid of my craft stash. That got halted when I had the flu for 12 days and came out with 6 weeks of double blindness. It's gone now and I drove again for the 1st time in 2 months. Did well.
T There is now a 3 yr old Golden Doodle dog named Max living with me and the guys. He's very well behaved. He might be put out to stud.
I'm still playing Candy Crush as my fun thing for getting out of bed each day. I am way up there and find it very helpful on keeping my logical brain cells working. I visit with others often and live in my house with 2 guys-the student who keeps my computer going and will prolly graduate in Dec.--boo hoo. Sure will miss him. The other guy is recently divorced and thinks of me as his counselor. He has a cute but very loud 2.75 yr old son who visits every weekend. I think I like his dog better--lol-he's quieter.
In September I will fly to Fairbanks again to be with Liz when her baby comes about Sept. 12. Looking forward to that. It will be a boy-their 1st child and my 4th grandchild. My oldest grandson Matt is finishing up his 1st year at San Diego State in kinesiology. My granddaughter will be a senior next year--Jenny. The youngest is approaching 6 feet tall, doing well in school, has a girlfriend, and is cute as can be. The older 2 have had jobs for some time now to help pay for college. Hope to see them this summer. Au revoir, y'all.
Had a great time at our 50th reunion. We had such a wonderful class and those who are left are such fun people.
In Aug,'12 I had FRostie put down. I really miss her but since I am travelling still, didn't get a new dog. I've closed up my in-home knit shop and lessons because my hands hurt so bad. In a few weeks I hope to get a spot at a local Antique Mall to sell the leftovers--yarn, needles, hooks, books, and so many scarves. I still knit a little when I feel up to it. I will be in Fairbanks, AK to visit my foster knitting daughter for the 3rd time for a month starting June 12. For the last year my renter has been a wonderful scholarship student from Saudi Arabia. He is Awesome Asim and so helpful to me. I broke up with my Indian BF and now date 2 guys both named David. That's the way to do it. In the throes of passion I never call out the wrong name-lol. My brother and I participated in Nat'l Geographic's Genome 2 project. From our DNA they were able to determine the route out of east central Africa that our Scandinavian ancestors took to get so far north. My family seems to carry more that average DNA markers from Neanderthal and Denisovan (another species of human that died out 1000's of years ago) people. I wonder if that was a factor in them making it so far north in Europe. So more than 67,000 years ago they were in Eastern Africa. 67K ago they started moving north and eventually made it to Asia. Abt 55K yrs ago they were in West Asia. 41K yrs ago they moved further West in Asia. They moved about quite frequently in West Asia until about 10K YA. They then made it to Europe. My Regional Ancestry which consists of 5K-10K YA shows my DNA reflecting about 50% Northern Europe, 32% Mediterranean, 16% SW Asian, and 2% NE Asian. My brother whose DNA brings in the genes of my father missed one of those areas. I believe they never got to NE Asia even though my mom and dad's ancestry comes from almost the same area of Norway. The Denisovan hominid is not even a word in the dictionary. Both they and Neanderthals also started in AFrica but left for Europe and parts of Western Asia more than 300,000 yrs ago. They were able to mate with the Hominins arriving much later, but eventually those 2 cousins had died out but some of their markers remained. I have found this so fascinating. Nat Geo is continuing to do research as more and more of us pay the $200 to have our DNA tested. I'm hoping the more progress made & the more ppl aware of it will help cut down on some of the terrible hatreds which have led mankind to do to one another. Perhaps in the future wars will be fewer, but knowing how strong religious beliefs are, I imagine wars of religion will continue. I am a proud Atheist and Neil DeGrasse Tyson is my hero. Treat everyone with kindness--we are all related.
I'm almost 65-June 21 is the big day. Frostie-my dog-is 13.5 and still going but with many health problems. When her quality of life is negative, I'll have to put her down. Still dating the younger man from India when he is up to it. My health problems have been 2 bouts of Plantar Fasciitis-one after Feb. 15th trip & one as of a week ago when I returned from 2 weeks in the beautiful, natural state of Arkansas. Most of you prolly think AR is a nothing state. Let's keep that secret and I'll keep going there every year to enjoy the beauty. I write more on Facebook under Nancy Friesen, so if you really want to keep up, befriend me there. H
Enjoy life and treat others kindly. Nancy
I forgot to mention the passing of my closest cousin, Ole Bjarne Ellefsen, last Jan. He lived in Ashtabula and it was only during the last 15 years of so of his life that I really got to know him, his wife, kids and grandkids. He was my only cousin born in Norway.I was shocked when he died at just 72 of a heart attack in a bad winter storm.
Doing well. The year is almost over and except for a few colds and a 6 week bout with bursitis of the left hip, I haven't deteriorated much. Didn't make it to the reunion nor to Cleve. this summer. Didn't make that cruise either. But did see the grandkids, a ranch outside of Austin, TX, a week in Cancun, and Dec. 5 leave for a week in San Diego. Circumstances have left me with way too many timeshare weeks for the next 2 years. SO I'M LOOKING FOR FRIENDS WHO LIKE TO TRAVEL. Where do you want to meet? Oh, I'm now also teaching crochet for JoAnn's. I'm not getting rich but sure enjoying a hobby turned money-maker.
Love life-m.m.m.m.I just never get to see my young guy enough any more--his life is so complicated and he has a bad heart condition. So I guess you might say I am on the prowl again--no luck with the online dating sights. e as it comes. I've been married twice, single now for almost 10 years and haven't wasted a moment in the comfort and joy dept. except when my demand exceeded the supply. Now don't think I'm only a cougar--I accept all ages as long as senility and mobility go along. And yes, I'm still sharp as a tack when it counts, but a lot less of a "brainiac" than in high school. Hey--did we even have that word then? Life is fun and goes too fast. Let's live.
2-11-10 update. I'm living thru DFW's heaviest snowfall ever in Feb--already over 8 inches in Arl. w/more at the airport. How beautiful it is. Most snow my little dog ever saw. 4 more inches & we top the heaviest yr ever for snow--winter 1977-78--before I got here on St. Patty's Day of '78. Had a nice trip to Cancun, MX last fall--2009. Hoping to see my step-grandchildren out in the Sacramento area sometime soon. I chat with Jenny age 10 almost every night. Her brothers are too busy for that.
Still dating my 43 year old Bombay man(2.5 years now)--what a cougar am I!!!Unfortunately he's in Mumbai now as his mom is dying of heart problems!
Now it's April 2009--no more broken bones. My knitting is really doing wll--the teaching of it, I mean. Next Monday I demo at the local Y in hopes of getting more customers. I've had my first male student the art of knitting now. Maybe the poor economy is helping as people want to spend their extra dollars on functional things rather than the frivolous. So come on down to TX and I'll teach you to knit. 2-11-10--knitting still going great except I've done too much and stirred up some bad myofascial pain from left collar bone, neck, shldr & blade, down arm and into previously broken wrist. I can still knit so all is well.
My brother Storm (class of June 1963) is flying in a week from today. He hasn't visited me here since 1980. Things have really changed. Sat. May 9th we are driving up to Hot Springs, AR--a beautiful place I've been going almost yearly since 1984. We'll spend a week at Hot Springs Village where I own 2 timeshare weeks. I'm selling one of them (end of Aug-early Sept.). I also have for sale the week of Christmas at Christie Lodge near VAil and Beavercreek mountains. Used to ski(hey--I'm a Norwegian--it's in the blood), but those days are over. And I have another one for sale down in south TX at Padre Island. I still own these with my spouse from whom I've been separated 8 plus years now. He's getting too old to travel and I want to travel spur of the moment, visit more friends, and cruise a little. So if anyone is interested in one ...Expand for more
or the others , let me --they are listed at very low prices. Since 1984 I've enjoyed the life of timesharing--always a nice-beautiful five star place to see, many places to go including NYC, all over CA, Canada, Paris, Bavaria, Amsterdam coastal city, and even in Norway just an island south of where many of my relatives still live. Even if I sell these 3 I still have 3 more weeks yearly available to me. Oh, the ones for sale are also for rent if I know you. That way you can try before you buy. 2-11-10--these aree still available. Separated spouse survived kidney cancer and the lost of his kidney and still can't travel.
Well, I hope life has been treating all of you well these days. If anybody is on FaceBook, look me up. I am just "Nancy Friesen" there. I really am enjoying FaceBook and also MeetUp events. How different life is now that we're living in the technological age. Cheers
Here it is the end of Jan.09. I'm happpy Obama made it. I'm still breaking things. This time it was the wrist of my left (dominate) hand in 2 places and a badly torn ligament. Just learned I won't need surgery--what a relief. 4 more weeks of hand therapy and 2 more in the brace. Please keep you fingers crossed I don't break any more bones.
In spite of these problems I did get in a trip to Jensen BEach, FL and another to New Bern, No. Carolina. Once I'm all healed I hope to get out to the Sacramento area again to check on the rapidly growing grandkids.
6-11-08 I'm had a great time in Hyannis, Cape Cod with 3 friends. We've decided to stay on the island until we drive back to Boston on Monday and then fly home to Austin that morning. But I won't be home in Arlington until Thurs.
A terrible thing happened to me on the drive down to Austin. I was 2/3rds of the way there having stopped several times to rest and stretch. Every time I would get back on I-35, there would be a 4 way stop to go thru. However, the last one wasn't--even though the cars seemed to be slowing down on both sides and I could see something that looked like the back of a stop-sign for either direction. Anyways, I stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded south to enter the highway. Half way thru the intersection I was broadsided on the passenger side by an 18 wheeler. Fortunately it was just the cab (hence not 18 wheels--prolly 8-10). My car was turned more than 180 degrees and time stood still. Later I learned from Dr. B this is technically called a T-Bone wreck and normally the results are serious injury or death.
The truck driver immediately jumped out of his cab to see if I was ok and called 911 as did several other people. Soon EMS was there, the police, a fire truck, lots of people, etc. I was strongly urged not to move and let EMS get me out and on a stretcher into the ambulence. I agreed. The 2 pass. side doors were shoved in almost 2 feet and there was glass everywhere. Prolly if anyone had been in the pass. seat they would be dead or close to it. Also, if Frostie had been in her little seat there, unless I had forgotten to strap her in, it would have been her demise. Fortunately, none of that happend. I felt pain in my sternum, across my chest, and my left hip and thigh. While in the amb. I was told to stare at the ceiling and not move in case I had broken bones in the neck. My neck didn't hurt (and even up to today--June 29th, I had no pain there). Made it to Scott White Hosp. in Temple, TX--a very large and well known hospital. I was examined by 2 docs, x-rayed, blood pressure and pulse and oxygen levels checked. Called Mary Lou before we left the accident sight and she and her son Eric started the one hour drive north to pick me up from the hosp.
The x-ray showed no breaks but I could have a few stress fractures in my ribs or sternum that will show up later. The docs both agreed I could still go on vacation. ML's daughter-in-law-Aileen-arranged for Jet Blue to let us fly 5 hours later on Friday than planned. (Fortunately the change fee was only $40 each.) I was released from the hospital with a tetanus shot, some pain pills, and orders to see another doc in a week here on the island. Also the doc said to take a cool shower as soon as I got to Eric and Aileen's so that any glass fragments on my body would slide off. I guess a hot shower causes them to irritate the skin and not drop off so easily. (Got to the Cape Cod Hospital Emergency Room a week after the accident. Examined by doc and 3 more xrays taken--this time the sternum, upper rib cage, and left hip/lower back. Again no breaks found. Saw Dr. B last week and she thinks I may have gotten away without any stress fractures--we'll know in a month or 2 when I get xrayed again.)
As to my car--a total loss!! Fortunately I owed less on it than what State Farm is paying me for its value. So when I get home, I'll have to go car shopping. I will be driving home in a rental car and take my time in replacing my Matrix. (I ended up getting a 2009 White Matrix--even better than what I had for less money and 0% interest--feel lucky about that.)
Mary Lou, Aileen, and I drove back
to Temple where my car was towed the next morning. They were shocked at the damage and I was also as you can't see much when you are the victim inside the car. ML said if she had seen the car first, she would have thought I died in the car. There was no blood, but so much damage and so much glass!!! Anyways--the 3 of us got it all out and loaded into ML's car trying to leave behind as much of the glass as possible.
(As far as I know the only things left behind were the battery cables which just couldn't be pulled from underneath the front pass. seat, one CD, and a silver car hanging ornament that said "High Maintenance." My luggage and almost all personal items and clothing were fine except one knitting needle was bent, one wooden box with emergancy supplies was badly damaged.
When we got back to Aileen's where I repacked, we had to wash a number of my clothes to get the glass fragments out. What a job that was. But with 3 of us working, we were able to get me ready for the flight at 5PM. Had we gone on the original flight, it would have been straight thru to Boston, but this later flight stopped at JFK and then on to Boston. We were stuck at JFK an hour or so, so ML and I didn't get settled into a hotel until 2 PM. We slept til 9am the next morning, got our included breakfast, rented our car and headed out to Cape Cod. Patty and Peggy were already there and helped us unload. We've had some meals out and several in--all 3 are gourmet
chefs. They have been taking good care of me and we've still been able to do lots of touristy stuff.
I really wasn't as shook up as I would have been when I was younger. The police didn't charge me with anything. It turned out that intersection was the scene of many accidents because of the same thing which caused me to have mine. Everyone I interacted with was extremely nice to me. This incident but further strengthened my belief that all is random. I have been quite calm since the accident and consider myself very fortunate that I was not injured any more severely than I was. I have pictures of the various stages of all my black and blue and purple and yellow and red marks. Unfortunately--most of them are x-rated--so you may or may not want to see them. I am still very colorful and suspect I will be for awhile. (Now-June 29th--most of the black and blue is gone, but from my left shoulder down to my left elbow are many marble sized hard ball-like clots that have calcified some under the skin--they shrunk from golf ball sized knots to what they are now and will eventually go away. I also have similar knots on the left side of my lower tummy and there are a few others here and there. I've been off hydrocodone for over a week and aleve or ibuprofen along with Ultram have kept me almost pain free. Dr. B says it is better while I am still healing to feel a little pain so I won't do physical things yet that my body is not well enough to do. So on goes life. Watch out for 4 way stop signs and 18 wheeler cabs--lol.
March 2008
Life-Goes ON--
Hi All--JUST ADD ANOTHER YEAR TO ALL BELOW. BUT--I've had the joy now of breaking both feet--that darn Osteoporosis! Broke the right one in early Dec. and that included ankle sprains on both sides. Then just 2 weeks ago (03-08) I fell again and broke the left foot. The doc thinks the new "miracle" medicine-Forteo-that I've been injecting is not working out for me. So I'm back on good old Fosamax-at least it kept me pretty much break free for 10 years.
I hope to attend the reunion in August. It sure is good to keep up with those you who do. Happy 2008 and keep your bones strong!!!!
I've been in my new home almost 7 years now. It got a lot of needed organization this spring, but I had to hire someone to help me do it. She was worth every dollar as we cleaned out enough to empty my guest room (except for furniture) enough that I was able to get a boarder.
Many things take up my time. I work as a contractor for JoAnn's Superstores as a Knitting Teacher--remember all those hand knit sweaters I wore in high school-I made them! I also teach private knitting lessons in my home from 5 year olds up to Alzheimer's patients. I still read a lot--mainly on the internet and mostly non-fiction. I'm trying to keep up with the technology fields, medical advancements, etc. I've taken up container gardening this last summer (2007) and have enjoyed the out doors more than ever. I'm involved in my neighborhood homeowners' org. Recently we all learned we are sitting on top of a vast natural gas, oil, and mineral field. We are getting compensated at $7500 an acre sign on bonus and then 25% of the profit of whatever they get out for a 3 year lease. My lot is .2104 acres, so that extra cash will come in handy. I also hang out with a group of Norwegians and Swedes to keep up my culture.
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