Rose Marie Baglio:
CLASS OF 1975
Lafayette High School 204Class of 1975
Buffalo, NY
Rose Marie's Story
After leaving Lafayette, I attended Daemen College and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (Sculpture - 1980) and then a Bachelor of Science degree (Biology - 1984). In 1976, I was involved in a serious car accident (third day with my license) shortly after I went to work part-time at the old Sears at Main and Delavan. They were so great through all my surgeries and PT, and were very supportive when my Dad died in February, 1977. I was there until they closed in early 1981. That summer, I moved away from home and (insanely) also took two summer courses, Anatomy & Physiology I & II. I picked up a pesky little parasite in the lab that nearly killed me (literally)!!! I spent late summer and all of the Fall Semester as the "Mystery Patient of Sister's Hospital". They found the little bugger a week before Thanksgiving, and even though I still had a long road ahead of me, my family and I had much to be thankful for!! In the summer of 1982, I began working as a Home Health/Personel Care Aide. It enabled me to work flexible hours so I could stay in school, and later, it provided a fair source of income while I went on "the great after-graduation job hunt".
Once I was out in the "Real World", I couldn't find work in either art or biology. Thank goodness for Home Care!! I tried everything from selling Cutco cutlery to doing parties for UnderCover Wear. I was a substitute teacher at Park School, and almost took a teaching position there. I was a Biology Lab instructor at Daemen for a semester, which led to a Volunteer Research Assistantship at Roswell Park in the summer of 1985. I was working under the head of the Graduate Program and was preparing for my Grad school exams. Disaster struck when I got my hand jammed in a Hoyer lift while working with one of my Home Care clients. It was a few weeks before the GRE's and GMAT's, and between the splints and surgery, I was unable to use my right hand for almost a year!!! And of course, life goes on...ready or not!! By the time my hand was in good working condition again, the window of opportunity for my exams, Grad school, and a career in Cancer Research had closed.
A dear friend had recently moved back to Buffalo and was working at a newly opened dental office. She spoke to her boss about me, and he agreed to give me a shot. I was trained on-the-job and became a dental assistant. I really loved it, especially the surgery. I still continued doing the Home Care on weekends and Holidays, Dr. vacations and any other "days off". In the summer of 1987, a college friend of mine bought a house, and was looking for someone to help with expenses. I was looking to move from my apartment, so we decided to pool our resources. It was so nice to be in a house again and to have another person around!!! It truly proved to be a wise decision when, in December of 1988, I was involved in a head-on collision. I swear my Guardian Angel was sitting on my shoulder that morning, because I was lucky to make it out alive!!! A few months into the healing process, I was told to find a new line of work or risk losing the use of my legs. There just happened to be a young dentist near my home in North Buffalo, who was looking for a receptionist who had some experience as an assistant. Talk about great timing!!! There was still alot to learn, s...Expand for more
ince I had never taken a business or accounting course, so I learned by the seat of my pants!! It wasn't long before I had corrected every patient account and set up a new office system. Eventually, he set up a satellite office with a friend, so I had to train his staff and oversee the running of both offices. After 4 1/2 years, it was time to move on, although I continued seeing him for my dental care.
In 1993, I went to work as a dental claims administrator at an office in Clarence and moved to an apartment in Snyder. It was there that I met the man who would later become my husband. He was my neighbor at the new apartment complex I had moved to. An 83 year old neighbor, who lived in the building between our two apartments, played Match Maker!! We started out doing things together for companionship in early 1995. Within two months, we had become serious. By late May, we were moving in together. We got engaged in June. And with alot of teamwork, despite opposite work schedules, we got married in October of 1995. The following month, we got the news that, because of some previous problems, children would not be possible, even with in vitro methods. So, we re-directed our focus and were able to buy our home in Snyder in April, 1996. It was definitely a fixer-upper, but for me it was a labor of love.
In late November of 1996, I took a position as a Benefits Administrator at a downtown office. The work was both interesting and challenging. While there, I developed a system for auditing client accounts and eventually was made Project Manager for our largest client, who had more than 5,000 employees on their benefit plans. Everything was going pretty well until an old injury from my car accident reared its ugly head. In June of 2002, I underwent surgery to fuse vertebrae in my neck. The surgery took alot out of me, and afterward I had to be extremely careful until the bones formed over the metal cage used to stabilize everything. When I returned to work, the stress was just too much for me. On December 30th, my doctors pulled me out of work, never to return. Later, it was determined that I was totally disabled.
The next few years were extremely difficult on many levels. I underwent what seemed like endless tests and procedures to try and get my medical issues under control. Then came the surgeries...one after another. It put a huge amount of stress on my marriage and on my husband. By March of 2005, I knew our marriage couldn't be saved, so by May, I moved out of the home I loved so much and filed for divorce.
Then in December, I got a call from my cousin who lived in Dallas. Her Father-in-Law was quite elderly and living alone in Austin. He refused to move to Dallas or go to a nursing home, but it wasn't safe for him to continue living alone. She knew I was already planning to move to Texas at the end of my lease. The Buffalo weather was too much for me, and the cold was very bad for my health. So she made me an offer I couldn't refuse!!! Three weeks later, I was on a plane to Dallas, with my cat and two canaries in tow. Two days later, I arrived in Austin at what would be my home for the next year.
Now I've been in Austin for over five years. While I do miss my family and friends like crazy, I definitely don't miss Buffalo weather!!!
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