Comments:
Graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a degree in philosophy in 1963. Returned to OKC and various civil service jobs at FAA, SSA and Tinker. Married John Paul Johnson of Ardmore, OK in 1965. We had our son, Paul, in 1969 and moved to Reston, VA soon thereafter. After a stormy, mostly unhappy relationship, J. P. and I separated in 1979.
I began a career in software development, most of it with traffic control systems. After a few years of attending “Parents Without Partners” functions, I gave up the idea of remarriage, but in 1985 I got a call from Jim, whom I had dated on and off in my first two years of college. Jim’s wife had left him and Jeannette Swan who was responsible for our
meeting in the first place, had kept him informed of my marital status and location less than 25 minutes away. Another on again, off again relationship ensued and I was hooked in spite of the fact that he was a minister. So, in 1988 we decided on July, 1989 as a good time for a wedding. And, we’ve lived happily ever after! We are both loving retirement.
Over the years we’ve had some wonderful trips: rafted down the Colorado River, drove through
Eastern Canada, toured Britain and Scotland courtesy of Brit Rail, did a bus tour of Spain and Portugal, visited Jim’s daughter in Japan, took the part land, part cruise tour beginning in Athens and ending in Istanbul, did the Western Caribbean cruise with friends who also spent a week in a Paris flat with us, had a great time on the Rick Steves’ Rome
tour and most recently did a Viking River Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. Right now I’m planning a trip to Italy for May that will include Florence, Padua, Venice and Milan.
My normal schedule includes working out at the local senior center where I also play lots of table tennis; several doubles tennis games every week; and designing Access databases for local non-profit organizations. I often take computer courses at the community college.
Jim has twin grandchildren, one of each gender, who are eight years old and live within babysitting distance. The other two grandchildren are older and not much in our lives. My son who has had problems with anxiety, depression and ADHD was self-medicating with alcohol, but has been sober going on three years. He has a promising career with Whole Foods and lives about 30 minutes away. I see him often and we get along as I had always hoped someday we would.
