Margaret Debrito:  

Life July 17, 2011 Forget what I said before... I'm now 63 years old and can hardly wait for retirement. If work and other forces in the universe collide, I won't make this 45 year reunion in Las Vegas on July 29th. YIKES - 45 years. OMG. I have about one more year until I'm eligible to retire as a civilian from the US Air Force. For the last 8 1/2 years, I've supported the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Thankfully, I stayed with the Air Force on paper, so I can go back to the AF before I retire. It has definitely been a fast 8 1/2 years. In the last couple of years, my eldest was divorced, my grandchildren grew to three, the oldest grandchild is now 13 years old (wow - this is how long I've been on Classmates/Memory Lane???). My youngest son Neil got married and he and his wife Crystal have a home in Oklahoma. They keep telling me when I retire, they have a room for me. I don't think so. I'll have to rethink Oklahoma to retire. I like California too much. I am traveling more for work - Colorado Springs CO and Huntsville AL as the program office I worked for at Los Angeles Air Force Base moves completely this year to Colorado Springs. I have been setting up a budget office, but hopefully MDA will take over the process here in the next 3 months. Personnally, I've been divorced now for 18 years. Hard to believe time has slipped away so quickly. That is the quick synopsis. I'm looking forward to the next 20 years when I retire. OLD STUFF: Hi again...Today, I'm a 56 year old grandmother of TWO- one active 6 1/2 boy and a lovely 8 week old baby girl. Back around my 30th birthday, I had my first son, Russell, and almost two years later, gave birth to my youngest son, Neil. Today, I am a divorced mother of two...and far enough away to enjoy their lives and mine. I grew up in Las Vegas (althought I was born in St Louis MO). I attended St Joseph's Grade School, Gorman, then Western High School. And then... the inevitable, UNLV (formerly known as Nevada Southern University). In college, I got my Fine Arts degree and pursued Theatre Arts, but you would never know it today by the job I have. I currently work as a civilian for the US Air Force, but...I am getting ahead of myself. I sailed through my 20's without getting hooked up with anyone in particular. When I was 25 years old, I turned in my Catholic roots and became a Buddhist. I chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. I am a member of the Buddhist Lay Organization called Soka Gakkai of America (SGI)which was formerly known as Nichren Shoshu of America. So, for the last 31 years, I've been a Buddhist. Around age 29, I found my husband and by 30 I had Russell. So... somewhere between 30 and 45 I had two boys, worked for the Air Force...and moved from Las Vegas to California to Oklahoma. I lived 12 years in Oklahoma -- Midwest City actually. It was a flat land...no Mt Charleston or Pacific Ocean. I learned C&W dancing and started listening to C&W music. That was different. Oh yeah.. I did marry Wilson deBrito, so my last name now is deBrito. We stayed together until 1993, then divorced. We had Russ and Neil... and that was good. After 1993, the boys and I stayed right there in Oklahoma, they went to high school, and graduated. They are wonderful guys...but no Einsteins. Yes... I was there in 1995 in Oklahoma City during the OKC bombing at the Murrah Bldg. It was life changing. That is all I will say right now. In 1998, my oldest got married, went into the Air Force, had my first grandson, and I moved to Albquerque NM. This was the first move of 3 in 5 years. I was so happy that Russ was "settled"...but worried about Neil. He was a Senior in High School when I moved to NM. He did stay with his Dad and stepmother, but it was a very difficult year for him and probably...Expand for more