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Karen Furo Gerdes July 1, 2008
Hi Guys,
What a pleasant
surprise in my mail this morning -- your WHAT'S BUZZIN' letter. It was so
nice to go into the website and see WHAT'S BUZZIN'. I look forward to its
future development -- not a whole lot there yet. I might suggest also
adding the Winthrop Harbor, Beach Park and Zion school districts to your
link page -- or maybe not. How about a "new or current biography" page so
we can tell when there is something changed? I didn't even see where you
put the WHAT'S BUZZIN letter on the site?????
The most shocking was to read the IN MEMORY page. So many "kids" gone. It
literally brought me chills to think of so many of our classmates passed on
to their greater reward. It almost brought tears to my eyes -- definitely
a choke in my throat. I'm now approaching age 67 (like all of us) and for
the first time in my life, a good friend of mine is actually dying, and
another (my best friend) just had a pacemaker put in last week. I've had
family pass on, but never a really close friend yet. It sure makes one
think about one's own lifespan.
The last couple years were very traumatic for my own family. My husband,
Bob, had prostate cancer surgery last February -- but all is OK now -- at
least so far -- knock on wood! He started with a bad PSA test in April 2006
-- and then the roller coaster began. Honestly, I felt like I didn't know
if we were coming or going. We felt like we were on treadmills running back
and forth to doctors and hospitals. We thought everything was settling down
and in July 2007, Bob had a couple silent heart attacks on a cruise in
Alaska. When we came back, he had emergency open heart surgery. He had 95%
blockage and maybe two weeks to live. Very scary stuff! He recovered
remarkably well for an old codger (he's only 74) -- because he's
very persistent -- and now we've got that all behind us. Since we had so
many deductibles covered, he decided to go ahead and have a knee replacement
in November. Finally, after all the therapy, etc., we have gotten back to a
normal life again this Spring -- and Bob is doing fine now -- and me too.
Scary stuff!
We're again booking our cruises and hope to get back to our normal travel
regimen. Sometimes I think Bob lives just for the next airplane ride to the
next cruise ship or national park or island resort. He even postponed his
cancer surgery for a cruise. I was able to get away for another wonderful
Yellowstone trip with my daughter and her family last August, and we're
going to Florida again in October for some just plain R&R.
My first grandson graduated from ZBTHS this year and will be headed off to
MSOE this fall. I can't believe he is a young MAN already. He had two cars
entered in the Nostalgia Days event in Zion last week and brought home a
couple trophies. The second grandson is still in remission from leukemia,
and we are hoping his life will continue without any further problems. The
third grandson just graduated from eighth grade here in Winthrop Harbor. It
seems like yesterday when they were just baBEEeeeeeeees! I bet you can tell
that my grandchildren are my life source. Grandkids are the greatest thing
ever invented since sliced bread -- I swear!
I keep reading where we have to keep stimulated to keep the old Alzheimer's
away as we get older so I'm still doing volunteer work at my church, and am
very involved in taking care of a handicapped sister. You know what
"THEY" say: Use it or lose it!
Keep up the great work on WHAT'S BUZZIN' -- and
as always, just me,
KAREN FURO GERDES July 1, 2008
P.S. If you need any help with the reunion, you can put me on the volunteer
list. God willing -- I'll be available!
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