Marion (Edwards) GessendorfI received a postcard in the mail today. I was truly surprised. To try to tell people about my life of the past thirty years will be easy, just hope someone out there remembers me, and will want to know. As some of you remember, if Alzheimer’s has not totally set in, I left Vancouver in June 1969 and moved to New Jersey. I graduated in 1970, as most of you did, and went on to receive my BA in History Education in 1974 from Trenton State College. I landed a teaching position at a junior high school in Bordentown, New Jersey, and taught history/geography until 1978. In 1976, I married Gary Gessendorf,, to whom I am still married, 24 years in May. Gary was active duty Air Force so we did some traveling. We spent a total of six years in Germany, five in South Dakota and two in New Jersey, until we decided that it was time to return to his roots and retire in Ohio. We have lived in Cincinnati for the past eleven years. We have one son, Gary Jr, 23. He attended Eastern Michigan University for eighteen months but decided that college was not what he wanted at that time. In 1998, he surprised us both by enlisting in the Air Force to follow in his father’s footsteps. He is now stationed in Florida, Hurlburt Field to be exact (this is on the Florida panhandle, midway between Pensacola and Panama City). He’s an aircraft mechanic, assigned to special operations. In August, we will travel south for his wedding. His bride-to-be is also in the Air Force, an electronics expert. I truly believe this is a match meant to be as they truly complement each other. During Gary’s tenure with the Air Force, I diversified my horizons (ha, ha), which means I held a number of jobs. I taught school for a while, worked for the government while in Germany, dabbled in real estate, and managed a few restaurants (one of which was also in Germany). Currently, I am employed by The Original Pancake House in Cincinnati. I was fortunate to return to the West Coast last August. My sister lives in Lacey and we did travel south to Vancouver for a day. I am amazed at how much the area has changed. I guess I just figured that Vancouver, Hazel Dell, and Lake Shore would always remain untouched and “pure.” I remember having to walk to school when the levies failed; splitting time between CRHS and Jason Lee when there wasn’t enough room at either one for us in 7th grade (I think it was 7th). While we were in Vancouver, I did stop at CRHS and got to walk through those “hallowed halls” again. The school itself has grown, I’d need a map to find my way. It brought back many fond memories and a lot of questions as to what happened to this person and that person. I would truly enjoy coming back again, unfortunately the timing of this reunion is not something that can be put into my schedule. I hope those of you that do get to attend share many fond memories. If any of you happen to get out this way, please feel free to look us up. We have a humble abode but we always have room for guests. This is a lovely city; we’d like to show it off. You can reach me at: Marion
(Edwards) Gessendorf 513-943-4311 E-mail mapagessen@aol.com |