50 years in a Nutshell

50 years...memories fade but here are a few of mine.

A trip home to California in a 57 Dodge. A scary midnight drive between Flagstaff and Phoenix on AZ Hwy 89A through Jerome, me at the wheel and madder than a wet hen at the sleeping groom. Family traveling to California for the wedding and staying in friends of my parents’ homes. The Kooy family traveling across country in a new Buick station wagon from New Brunswick, NJ with Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma Kooy (picked up in Lansing, IL), Craig, Daryl, Gwyn and Brian. Mother cooking steaks for everyone for the rehearsal dinner. Grandma Carlson going to Yucaipa from South Holland, IL to visit her brother and then coming for the wedding. Uncle Walter and Cousin Lucille coming from Portland, OR for the wedding (the last time I saw Uncle). Taking the family to Knott’s Berry Farm – watching the beautiful pink flamingos. Singing to each other at the wedding (groom with beautiful bass, bride with off-key contralto). Maid of Honor Phillis Wilson (Tiel) and Best Man Stephen Struikmans – friend of bride from high school, and college classmate of groom who was from CA. Organist Marguerite Cloo, friend of bride from grade school and college. Reception at Orange Hotel in Ontario, CA – 170 guests, prime rib dinner, Swiss band, table piled with gifts. Wedding night at Sleepy Inn (can’t remember the actual name – but on Euclid) in Ontario, CA. Opening gifts and trying to keep track of them (used many of them for years and always thought about the giver, especially the toaster that lasted for 35 years from Bill and Alice Vander Pol and the throw rugs the probably were used for 40 years from Fritz and Alice Thommen). Packing wedding gifts in trunk and back seat of the Dodge. Springs on the car breaking in Ashfork, AZ on the way back to Pella, IA. Calling Daddy to bail us out. Daddy getting springs in LA and bringing them to garage in Ashfork for the garage there to put on (they couldn’t get any for three days – quicker for Daddy to bring them from CA). Saying good-bye to parents once again. From there much of the next 50 years is a blur!

Finishing college (with groom trying to get GPA up to a graduating standard). Taking GREs. Both actually getting into graduate school (University of Nebraska of all places and University of California, Los Angeles – we took the latter). Renting a small ‘single’ apartment in Westwood, CA. Walking to and from campus daily. Traveling ‘home’ on weekends (sometimes fighting So Cal traffic, sometimes not) to Chino to parents. Transferring graduate schools – to Claremont Graduate School. Searching desperately for a teaching job – nobody would hire a female history teacher – what could she coach. Getting a job in Chino teaching 5^th grade – principal was Garland Mendenhall, father of HS classmate Sandy Mendenhall. Great graduate school experiences. Great teaching experiences – with students like Theresa Nyenhuis, Darlene Bothof, Steve Lanting, Marta Escanuelas, and so many more. Teaching part-time at Pasadena City College. The birth of Heidi Marie in 1969. Searching for full-time teaching job. Moving to Hastings, NE for a full-time job. The birth of Elizabeth Anne. The granting of the long-sought Ph.D. Learning the teaching job would not be there beyond two years. Fruitlessly searching for another teaching job. The birth of Jan Frederick. Seeking work – anything. Local school district didn’t like the odds on the mother of three small children. Working construction for the parent of a former student. Going into construction on our own. Building our own home. Substitute teaching. Any job to keep food on the table. Children becoming involved in swimming. Traveling to CA often when parents were in nursing home. Taking job as Executive Secretary for Midwestern Swimming. Working in a cabinet shop for a good friend. Becoming foreman of a mill shop in Grand Island. Working again in cabinet shop. Full-time job as administrative assistant at Central Community College – with insurance benefits! Janitor at First Presbyterian Church during construction project. Back to school at Central Community College for a certificate in Computer-Aided Drafting. Jobs in Omaha and commuting home on weekends. Retirement and coming home to an adjunct teaching job in Ethics at the local community college.

The addition of in-law children. The birth of five beautiful grandchildren.

The ups and downs of some serious health issues for both including a back surgery, artery grafts, hand joint replacement, GIST surgery, seriously broken leg, and return of the GIST with oral chemo.

50 years in a nutshell! What a ride. Mostly not envisioned 50 years ago!