Mary Ayres (M. Susan Vann)Thirty years! It certainly doesn't feel as if it's been that long! I often find myself wishing life would slow down a little...but precious little chance of that! Well, it's been an interesting period of time, anyway. After graduating from CRHS I attended Clark College for two years and obtained an AA in what today would be called Computer Science, though today it would be woefully inadequate training for the computer programmer I had hoped to become. However, that turned out to not be an issue. While at Clark I met my husband-to-be, John. We were married in July, 1972 and moved to Vallejo, CA where he was training in nuclear reactor operation for the Navy. Finding entry level work in the computer industry turned out to be a significant problem as Navy wives tend to move a lot, and all the employers in the Navy towns we lived in were well aware of that. We spent then next 7 1/2 years moving from duty station to duty station, which was way cool as we were able to visit so many places around the country. Wow! All the different cities! San Francisco; Idaho Falls, Id; Bremerton, Wa; Honolulu; Virginia Beach, Va; New London, Ct..... We moved ALOT! I gave up the idea of working when our oldest, Elizabeth, was born. She was followed in three years by her sister, Amanda. Being a mother seemed to be the most important job I could possibly find, anyway (and perhaps it was :-). After the Navy we settled in eastern Washington where John took a position on the Hanford Reservation. We stayed several years, then in 1984, John became a self-employed nuclear contractor, and it was back on the road again! San Luis Obispo, Ca (where our son, John Daniel was born); Carlsbad, Ca; Longview, Wa; Baton Rouge, La; Vicksburg, Va.....and finally back to Seattle! On our 15th wedding anniversary I counted up and we had moved 15 times.....at that point I decided I would quit counting! All the moving was tough on the kids, though, so we decided to settle down. We spent three years in Seattle with Boeing, and by this time I was working. Then John was offered a position on the Hanford Reservation again, and we moved back to eastern Washington. I thought that was really cool because, along the way, I had decided that the Tri-Cities were truly home. We've been here, now, since 1989 and have lived in the home we now own for 8 years.....a real record!! Our girls have graduated from high school and are both attending college. Elizabeth is majoring in biology and trying to decide if she wants to teach or practice veterinary medicine. She's getting married next December, so we're planning a wedding. Amanda, our budding artist, is working on the first year of her AA and hasn't decided what she wants to major in. JD finishes high school in two years and loves his music. He plays viola in his school orchestra, as well as in the orchestra for the local Renaissance Faire. Speaking of Renaissance Faires - that's a whole family pastime. We perform and travel around the Pacific NW with Ye Merrie Greenwood Players, on weekends in the spring and summer. This improvisational acting troop does reenactments and historical education about life in 16th century England. Our home faire is June 17 &18th at Howard Amon Park in Richland, Wa. Come play with us, if you can! It's loads of fun!! Sounds like things have gotten calm? Hardly!!! Around the time I turned 40 I finally decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I quit my job, enrolled at the WSU branch campus, here in Richland, and finished a BA in Sociology and Psychology - on the President's Honor Roll! Wow! Didn't know I could make grades like that! Never one to say enough is enough, I then applied for graduate school. Bless my family for their tolerance and support! In August of 1998 I began a doctoral program at Wichita State University in Community Clinical Psychology. So I'm doing the traditional student thing, living in campus housing during the term, and coming home on all the breaks. I study like mad all the time, and teach Introductory Psychology to help pay the extra bills. I have an immensely loving and supportive family. They're tolerating Mom's extended periods away from home well - though the house cleaning leaves something to be desired! But what is life, without adventure! And we all see this as another adventure! About midterms I generally wonder just WHAT I think I'm doing - and wish I was home again - but they all prop me up and tell me to keep going. WOW! Thirty years! But I'm not nearly ready for retirement - there's too much to do yet! I can hardly wait to do the NEXT thirty years!! See you all in July!! M. Susan Vann (aka:
Mary Ayres)
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