Trudy Burke:  

Wow, what can I say ... over the past 40 years I have been on a wild roller coaster ride in life's journey. In 1969 I married Larry Christensen, a 1968 graduate from Pomona High School who was born in Oslo, Norway. He enlisted in the army as a computer systems analyst and was stationed in Germany in a top security clearance military base. After we got married, I joined him in Permasiens, Germany. Six months later the army relocated us to Italy to another top security clearance military base named Coltano. In 1970, we had a son, Ronald, who was born in Italy. In 1971, we relocated to Hawaii where we had a daughter, Andrea. Larry's service term expired and he requested and got a computer systems analyst position at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. We moved to Alexandria, Virginia and lived there a few years. Larry applied for a got a computer systems analyst position with Bank of America's headquarters in San Francisco. We then moved to San Francisco and stayed there for several years. I worked for an engineering company who was contracted to do the research for the infamous BART system in San Francisco. Life was good but we were kids raising kids and it eventually took its toll where after 10 years of marriage, we divorced. Ron was seven and Andrea was six when I moved back down to Southern California. I was on a roll ... 27 years old, two small children and no career choice to speak of. Larry then decided to do a custody lawsuit against me for Ron and after I went through exhaustive attorney and psychologist sessions, the legal field really sparked my interest. So, I decided to enroll in the three-year certified paralegal program at University of LaVerne College of Law. I had nothing to lose ... I had no career of choice ... I had been a stay-at-home mom who had given up any career choice for myself so that my husband could pursue his career. Law and I gelled well together and I was fortunate to ace all of my classes and graduate top in my class. I then was very fortunate to work for top notch attorneys and I blossomed in my career choice. As I took on more responsibility, I learned and did more and was eventually promoted to a litigation specialist paralegal. For the next several years I focused on raising my two kids. Then in 1985, at the age of 35, I met Peter Burke, a very handsome English gentleman who swept me off my feet. In 1987, we married and in 1991, we had a daughter, Cassandra, and in 1993, we had another daughter, Paige. Peter's career choice was a long-haul truck driver ... what a span ... from a computer system analyst to an all American long haul truck driver ... go figure. As you can well guess, it is a difficult relationship being married to a long-haul truck driver who is home only once a month and sometimes once every two months. Again, Peter's absence took its toll on the marriage because it was very difficult for me to r...Expand for more