This photo shows me and my best friend (!) sitting on my deck in beautiful wine country Temecula, CA, where I have lived for the last 10 years.
It seems like I have lived through several lives since our graduation 50 years ago (what, 50?? must be some mistake!!):
I got my BS from Purdue (biology), which included 1 year in Strasbourg, France; then I was off to Hawaii, where I got my MS (agronomy).
While in Hawaii, I married James ("Kimo") Walker, who was also a graduate student. Our two children were born there: Lance “Kalani” and Coral “Keala.”
Once Kimo got his PhD (coastal engineering) in 1974, we moved to California: first Los Alamitos and then Orange. Kimo left a legacy of many outstanding coastal projects all over the world and was proclaimed the “granddaddy of artificial surf sites” after his death at age 53 from cancer. We had been married for 30 years.
Four years after his death, I moved to Temecula, where I am now living my lifelong dream of having horses and keeping them on my own property.
My new best friend (besides my dog and my four horses!) is Terry, a retired firefighter, who has lived here with me for the past 7 years. We feel like we live in paradise!!
Son Kalani (43) now lives and surfs in San Clemente while working as a landscape architect to design high-end resorts all over the world. Daughter Keala (41) is enjoying the outdoor life in Washington State while working as a sous-chef for a grocery store near Snohomish. I am so proud of my kids and so in love with the two grandsons and two granddaughters they have given me.
Although currently “semi-retired” (read, “unemployed”), I am trying my hand at selling Mary Kay cosmetics … no boss but myself! In my former lives, besides being a mom, I had worked off and on mostly as a technical copy editor, still remembering the English taught to me by Miss Casey and the science principles taught by Mr. Evans and Mr. Butterfield. We are so blessed to have gone to a special place like BCC, something I took for granted then but hugely appreciate now! Looking at the lives we have all pursued and enjoyed, I am so impressed, while being saddened by the ones we have lost.
Looking forward to the Reunion!!!