In recounting the last 50 years….hmmm….a lot to think about with my fading memory these days. Although, I can remember things in the past much better than what I did yesterday.
I have always been interested in travel…have done a little, not to any really exotic places, but haven’t given up. While I was working as a travel agent, Gil, Chelsea, and I, did take a trip to Cancun…gosh, can that really be 23 years ago. We visited Tulum and the ancient temples, Xcaret and swam with the fish in the lagoon, as well as a boat cruise to Isle Mujeras, The Island of Women just off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Each morning we marveled at the turquoise water of the Caribbean as we sat on the balcony enjoying our first cup of coffee for the day.
Going back in time, Gil and I were married in St. Patrick’s Church in Rouses Point, June 25, 1966. I met him when I moved back to NYS from Florida in 1965. My parents divorced when I was in sixth grade and my mother and I moved to Florida where she had a sister. What a culture shock that was! Moving from a small country town to a big metropolis like Miami. We lived in the North Miami Beach and North Miami area for 9 years.
Our daughter Tracy was born in October 1967, while Gil was deployed to Viet Nam in the Mekong Delta. I was so happy when he came home safe to us in February 1968. We lived in Syracuse for a time but moved back to Plattsburgh. He worked for C-I-L Ammunition and I returned to work at Ayerst Laboratories.
In 1973 we moved to Virginia where Gil’s brother lived and have been here ever since. Gil worked as a district supervisor for Payless Gas Stations for a number of years and then as a manager for Unclaimed Freight Furniture and Meyers Tabakin Furniture stores, and Uppy’s Quick Marts. I worked for an audio visual company for 19 years, then a floor covering company for 6 years, and currently for the Chesapeake School System for the past 12 years, all administrative assistant/secretarial positions.
Tracy graduated from Great Bridge High School in 1985 and has been employed with several restaurants in the area as a waitress and bartender. She lived in Richmond for a time, but has been back in the Chesapeake area for a few years.
Our granddaughter Chelsea was born in July 1987 and she is currently a senior at the University of Oklahoma. She received her Associates Degree here in Virginia at Tidewater Community College. She will be graduating in December 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in GIS (Geographic Information Systems). She is working in her field as a summer intern at Midcontinent Communications in Sioux Falls, SD.
For her graduation present from high school in 2005, we took a 5 day Western Caribbean cruise with some gal friends and their children, the previous summer.
Sadly, Gil passed away from a massive heart attack December 2, 2001. We were attending a Christmas Party for Uppy’s and were dancing the last dance of the evening…something we always enjoyed together, when it happened.
About a year afterwards, I began working a second job at QVC on the phones taking customer orders, and was just able to retire from there in April. How liberating! I now feel that I have the time to do some things I am interested in and perhaps get some travel worked in to my plans; hope to visit some National Parks out west and Iceland has always been a draw for me, as well as Wales, Ireland and England. That is a pretty big bucket list, but life is more fun with dreams and aspirations.