Wendy Hall:
CLASS OF 1978
Heritage High SchoolClass of 1978
Littleton, CO
Metropolitan State CollegeClass of 1996
Denver, CO
Wendy's Story
Hi there everyone! It seems like several lifetimes ago since highschool. I am currently living in a home in Aurora, CO. with my wonderful partner, Jean. We have 2 beautiful dogs. Jack, is a 4 year old, chocolate black lab mix and Sara, is a 5 month old, brown rodision rigback mix. Over the years I have lived and moved all over the metropolitan area, only living out of state once when I attended BYU, right out of highschool. I was only there a few months before I left because of my sexual preference, which was not acceptable at the college or for my religion. At about 20 years old I was excommunicated from the Mormon church, and had to begin my own journey of spirituality and self-acceptance. From BYU I moved to Greeley for a brief time before returning to the Denver area, where I have spent the last 27 years.
Those last couple of years out of highschool, I stayed active in sports, mostly softball, playing with Tammy Weatherly's team, "The Damn Yankees," that her father coached. Sheryl Phipps played on that team as well, who also went to Heritage High. In my twenties I played on some recreational teams of Soccer, including Indoor Soccer which was very intense.
I went back to college at 32 and got my B.F.A. in Fine Arts at Metropolitan State College of Denver, graduating in the fall of 1996. My emphasis was in oil painting, sculpture and jewelry making. I have had a variety of jobs through the years, as I tend to get bored easily after doing something for a couple of years or so.
The longest place I ever have lived was in a house that I rented in Cherry Creek for 15 years. I paid $350.00 a month for a 2 bedroom house that had the only basement in the entire neighborhood. We fondly called it the "slums," of Cherry Creek, as it consisted of small one and two bedroom homes that the military had quickly built in the early 1900's to house the men who worked at Lowry Airforce base. My home was the oldest one in the neighborhood and is still barely standing today. All the other homes have been torn down and million dollar condos now replace them.
It was in this neighborhood that I met my partner to be as she lived one blocked east from my house. The neighborhood was quite divers in the 80's. We had motorcycle bikers, single guys, single mothers, widows, an older gay couple, a teacher, etc... I loved that neighborhood we all new one another and watched out for each other. How I met Jean was there was a park along cherry creek drive that everyone walked their dogs at. I have always had dogs and whenever they would bark a lot, I would go out the front and make them quite dow...Expand for more
n. Jean would occasionally walk her dogs down my street to get to the park and of course my dogs would bark at her dogs and I would go out to see what the commotion was about, and have the opportunity to chat with Jean about what was new. She had a 5 year old son at the time, who somehow started coming to my house, ringing my doorbell, and would ask me if I could play. I have always loved children, never having any of my own, and could not resist this beautiful little boy's offer. So we would play, and eventually I taught him archery, as he was in the cub scouts and was earning his badges. It's funny but that house seemed to always draw kids in the neighborhood and stray dogs to it. I like to think it was the unconditional love that I shared that brought everyone there.
I moved out in 1998, for a love that would not last even 2 years, and went through one of the most difficult periods in my life. But at the end of 2000, in December, I was given the opportunity to move back to my old neighborhood in a house right next door to Jean. It was a house her son, now in college, had been living in, but he had gone to Thailand to see his father for a year. So my boss at the time, I was working as a maintenance tech fixing up properties, knew Jean and told me to call her about renting the house from her. In January 2001 I moved in and shortly after that we began dating. We moved into our home in Aurora, in October that same year, and have been together since then.
It's amazing how my life has come full circle. I use to often wonder when I would chat with Jean what she was really like. Whenever she walked her dogs she was sharply dressed and elegant. But she was married for most of those years and I was always in a relationship. I would have never imagined that first little boy I fell in love with, her son, would come back into my life as a young man and that I would eventually be with his mother.
This past year was an especially hard one for us, as I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer May 1st of 2007. I went through 3 surgeries and 5 chemotherapies and lots of time staying at the hospital. My hair is finally growing back, my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I am starting to feel like myself again. Jean, my bestfriend, friends and family got me through it, as I didn't think I could do it. But here I am telling you my story. I am looking forward to this spring, being home and out of the hospital. Giving my body the time it needs to recover, though my mind is far ahead of it. I hope you have enjoyed reading my story and I would love to hear from any of you that would like to respond.
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