After two years teaching secondary school in Lopburi, I returned home to California. I went to work doing paralegal insurance work and technical writing.
I married Steve Auer in in 1974 and we moved to the San Jose, CA area after Steve finished his engineering degree.
I've now been married to Steve for 30 years. We have one daughter, Joanna, who is 24. I stayed home when Joanna was little.
When I went back to work I wanted to do something more creative. At first I tried being a floral designer. After about 3 years, the long holiday hours, low pay and the drama at the shop were getting me down. So I went back to school and studied graphics. My timing was good because I got in on the first wave of computer graphics and desktop publishing. For the last 15 years, I've been a graphic designer in a corporate advertising dept. of a distributor of therapy products, North Coast Medical. I have them trained pretty well. For the most part, I just go into the office two days a week and occasionally do work at home. Now I want to retire. I like doing collage art and I want to just play with my papers and art supplies.
I had endometrial cancer in 1999. I was heavy and very out of shape. After the cancer operation, I began to lose weight and now I keep working at it. In 2001 and 2002 I did the Avon 3-Day 60 mile walk. I found that I liked the training, learning to push myself
physically and to achieve more than I had thought I could. Now Steve and I ride a tandem bike. I enjoy cycling because of the life style- the shared experiences with Steve and other bikers, the B&Bs, the wine and travel. In 2003 we went on a 2-week bike tour of the Loire Valley in France and this last June we did a bike tour of Switzerland. We go with a group of about 20 other tandem bikes. Next June we'll be riding in the Burgundy region of France.
I am grateful to Ernie for doing all this work to bring us together again. It often seems like the whole PC experience happened to someone I knew a long time ago. I, too, would like the reunion to be in Hawaii. Steve and I have made plans to go there next October for our time share in Kauai. So twist my arm, I'd love to go to Hawaii twice in one year.