Michele Willis-Smith:
CLASS OF 1979
Ladue Horton Watkins High SchoolClass of 1979
St. louis, MO
Illinois Central CollegeClass of 1985
Peoria, IL
Ladue Horton Watkins High SchoolClass of 1977
St. louis, MO
West Ladue Junior High SchoolClass of 1976
Ladue, MO
Michele's Story
Life
Hi, I moved to Peoria Illinois in July 1978, I got married right away, very dumb, the only thing good he ever did was give me 2 great kids. Soon after that I got smart and divorced the "Puck" as I call him, and raised my children on my own. A couple of years later I meet a great man, My Best Friend and Husband who took my children as his own. My children were 2 and 3 years old when we meet and we had a great life as a family. I went back to school and got my GED and went on to College. Life was Great, then in 1991 my friend, my husband died suddenly. The children and I were alone again. It was really hard on us all, the children were only 9 and 10 years old at the time. Then in 1996 I met another wonderful man, A Peoria Firefighter, we got married in 2003 and are very happy. He too took my children as his own and we have 6 grandchildren. My son Michael has 2 children, Jayden is 6 years old, and Sierra is going to be 5 years old. My daughter Trina (Christina is her legal name) has 2 children Brandon 7 years old and Alyssa 6 years old, she is married and her husband Rob has 2 boys, Yurgen 12 years old and lives with them and Porter 6 years old and stays with th...Expand for more
em weekends and sometimes a day during the week. I'm very blessed with my grandchildren and just love having them around.
I work at HeartCare MidWest which is a cardiologist group of 30 cardiologist and 4 cardiac surgeons. I do all the nuclear testing on patients. I really enjoy my work and love my patient. I work with a great group of people, and we all work together and have fun doing our jobs.
But I must admit it took a long time to get where I am now, there's been a lot of ups and downs since I left Horton Watkins High School and if anyone remembers me, then you know I left in 10th grade. No one can know how hard it is to be in another state with no family, no education, no money, and 2 babies all alone. I did and I knew if I was going to make it I had to get my education in order to get a good job with benefits in order to raise my children and keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. It wasn't easy but I did it and it was well worth it. I only wish I would have finished at Horton Watkins and then went to college and get married and have children, but even though I didn't I've thought a lot about my classmates that did, and wonder what has become of you.
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