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Brandon (19) and Chelsea (17)

Biography: How do you describe 35 years of "adult" life in a few paragraphs? The friendships and memories created while growing up in a small town are so lasting. A high school reunion reawakens my youthful thoughts and leaves me to reminisce about all of the years of my life.

After graduation I spent four years at Western Michigan University and finished with a Fine Arts Degree. Art has always been my passion... however; it is a tough to pay the bills as an artist! So, I worked primarily in store display and design for five years and then as a buyer and interior designer for six years with Ethan Allen when I moved to San Diego in 1974.

Along the way I managed to pursue my other passion... travel! After college I traveled for a winter in Europe, spent several months in Columbia, studied art in Mexico, and wandered around the USA and Canada.

Finding life in San Diego exactly what I was looking for I decided to settle down and married my husband Cary in 1980. He is a cosmetic dentist and we subsequently started a dental practice in this area, found our dream house, and had a son, Brandon, in 1982, and a daughter, Chelsea, in 1984. I worked with Cary to build our business, learning all about health care, managing staff, handling the financial aspects, and doing all of the myriad of tasks self employed people do! We have recently moved from our office of 20 years into a brand new facility.

Last year I decided to "retire" from dentistry and start my own business. I am now traveling to Europe and importing antiques, which I sell with a friend in a retail store and on Ebay. It has been a wonderful career move for me... a big learning curve... but putting my two passions together has been very rewarding.

After marrying, Cary and I continued to travel and as our children grew we began taking them with us on foreign trips. We have traveled throughout Europe, to Australia and New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Galapagos Islands, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Morocco and next year to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The experiences we have shared as a family have greatly enriched our lives!

I began pursuing my art avidly again in 1990 with classes in Botanical illustration. What great fun to be using colored pencil and paper. However, as much as I loved the pencil I realized it was a very slow medium and I have a lot of art to do in this lifetime... So, I took classes in printmaking and now have a studio with a printing press in my garage where I produce limited edition etchings. I am a member of a local printmaking organization and we have several annual shows. I also am the coordinator of a large international art show each year.

It's with much excitement I look forward to renewing old friendships and to experiencing Northern Michigan in September for our 35th high school reunion!