10/05/00

I'm sure children are the number one accomplishment of all, as well as grandchildren that now number "8," WOW!  Being an only child, I've sure enjoyed the growth in my family.  We are proud to announce that our children consist of (Ray) a minister (in Texas), (James) a laborer and world traveler, (Lisa) a State Insurance Agent with her own business, (Donald) a UPS employee (soon to be a Firefighter), and (Stephen) a Sportglass frame manufacturer soon to go into a law enforcement career.

Don recently retired after 32 years on the Phoenix Fire Department and has already remodeled our brand new home. What he did to the back yard should be in Better Homes and Gardens, it's awesome!  After living in central Phoenix for 30+ years it's quite an adjustment to live at the edge of Maricopa County, in a gated Chandler community.  I'm still working at Decot Sportglasses (a 60+ mi. round trip daily), but hope to retire soon so Don and I can travel and see this beautiful country we live in.  Maybe the New England states for a start, we hope to travel 4 to 5 months pulling a Fifth Wheel, during the warmer months. Of course I'll have a laptop computer so I  can continue my writing and stay in touch via E-mail.  I've become quite the computer buff and really enjoy it.

Asked about my latest and proudest moments, well I would have to say that my love for community involvement burns strong.  Before our move to Chandler, I organized and ran a Neighborhood Association in central Phoenix.  My neighborhood was number 32 on the Crime Grid, which out of about 400+ areas was one of the worst.  It took about 1 ½ years, but we closed a lot of drug houses and literally ran most of the criminal element out, moving us almost off of the Phoenix Crime Grid statistics.  It was a full time job after my regular job, but we accomplished bringing a community together through neighborhood cleanups, working closely with the police dept. and city services, the local schools and generally helping instill the fact that we could accomplish anything by working "together."  We won numerous awards for our hard work and that neighborhood still is hanging in there with a strong, active Association.  During that period I also was appointed to the Phoenix Oversight Committee by the City Council for five years. Our job was to oversee $1,000,000+ in tax monies that was distributed to neighborhoods and organizations through a Grant program that allotted up to $10,000 for crime fighting, quality of life issues and more.  I was honored by being appointed Chairperson by the Mayor for two years. I truly loved being able to see so much good that transpired from people working together for the betterment of their individual communities.  During that period I wrote a 27 chapter book on how to organize a community and fight crime, but had a sad reality check in that the adult audience that I was hoping to reach, had a bit too much apathy for their communities.  So, I rewrote part of my thoughts into a children's book called "The Little Neighborhood That Did," hoping that it would plant some seeds of commitment and involvement.  I'm now in the process of having it published.

I was so thrilled to renew my acquaintance with some of my classmates and Ace Flake, one of my very favorite teachers of all time.  I owe to him my great love of writing.  Now, looking back, I am most thankful for the years I had at Tucson High and the many opportunities that helped form my life.